


enHANCE

by AO3uzer45



Series: Enhance Me [1]
Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional, F/M, Fluff, Gay Hunk, Gay Lance, Hance - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Other, Past Rape/Non-con, Possible Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Sad, Sex, Suggestive Themes, Triggers, Voltron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-08-22 22:38:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 47,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8303828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AO3uzer45/pseuds/AO3uzer45
Summary: Hunk has a past. His past is ignored and trampled over all his friends'. He rather drown himself in their worries then even think about his past. Lance is there for him, though, Lance has always been there even though he doesn't know Hunks past. Hunk has to face the facts when the 9 year anniversary sends him down a spiral of depression and the team notices. He will have to face everything, he will have to tell the team.... but they'll have the same looks that everyone has:  Pity. Does Hunk really want his friends to worry and coddle him? Does he want the to worry about him? What if he just does what he does every year and just suck it up? Keep it in? His mother taught him to bottle everything in, keep a smile on, don't let anyone see that you are hurting. But you must be there for them when they are drowning. Will Hunk be able to hold it in this year? Or will he Explode?





	1. Anniversary

It made him afraid. It made him paranoid. It made him sick to his stomach. It made him wheeze in disparate and utter pain. His mind was confused and shocked. He was in so much pain and screaming for them to stop, but his screams went unheard. Silent.

He was tied up, panting. His eyes covered and his whole body felt on fire. His pelvis numb but shaking. His senses heightened, all he could feel was the cold, disgusting, touch of the clammy hands over his body. He shivered, knowing that calling out to stop wouldn't make the hands stop wandering. His heart in distress and panic, his body convulsing without his consent. He was too young to understand, too young to mourn the loss, too young to do anything.... Then a sharp pain filled his body, making his mind flash through his whole past, forcing him to relive everything that happened in that one day. That one dragged out day. 

Lips hovered near his ear, their chapped surface rubbing on his lobe:  _You are worthless now. No one will love you ._

That's when his body convulsed awake. His everything shaking with fear. He sat up and turned on the light beside his bed, he had to know that what he just witnessed was only a dream…. More like a play-by-play of the past.

Hunk shivered, his everything sweating.

 _I knew the anniversary is coming soon.... but why did I have to just relive **it**? _   He thought to himself as he buried his head in his hands. Hunk had not wanted to relive that, he's been trying for so long to forget about it. It took him 9 years to be able to live a normal life, a life not hidden behind food and a smiling mask. It had taken him 9 years to be able to open his heart again, to allow his soul to accept the love of his current boyfriend.

“Hunk, you ok?” Lance asked, waking up beside him his top half unclothed and his bottom only covered by his loose sweat pants.

“I haven't had that nightmare in a year…” Hunk mumbled to himself "Is it really that time already?"

“What?" Lance asked, his ears trying to hear

"It's nothing, Lance."

"It’s…three in the morning, babe…” Lance slurred out.

Last night was a hard night. **For everyone**. Voltron was ripped apart by Zarkon again. Shiro passed out making Alura freak and Pidge got hurt by being tossed around by them separating. Red ejected Keith for the first time, making Keith get really angry and unstable (even when he got back into Red). Lance was mostly fine, he got a bruised shoulder from the thrashing and a small cut on his hand. Then there was Hunk, the leg of Voltron, one of the supports...He had a meltdown. His lion went offline and he was floating in space aimlessly without contact to the others for hours. He tried everything to get to Lance, to tell him that he was alright, but it didn't work. His lion wouldn't even open up when he thought he landed safely in the castle.

Hunk had time to reflect on the feeling of being alone, the feeling of abandonment… it's the only color that his past can paint.

He had the wave of the familiar color douse him, and drown him as he was alone. That's when he realized that the anniversary was coming up, he only felt this alone and betrayed when it was coming around the corner. He didn't want to deal with it without his mother there to guide his emotions. She was always there with a slice of pie or a bin of ice cream to calm him down. His mother's words did the opposite of her actions, though, telling him to control his emotions, hide them away, put on a smile and act like he's supposed to. But she still did a great deal in helping him be more himself.....

“Come here,” Lance smiled a tired smile and opened his arms for Hunk to embrace. Hunk obliged, wanting nothing but comfort at this point. Hunk buried his head in Lance's chest holding him tightly to himself, “do you want to talk about it?” Lance asked as he ran his hand up and down Hunks back and through his bedhead.

“Not particularly…” Hunk said, his voice muffled

Lance laughed through his nose and started to sing sweet nothings into the air. He had done this a handful of times when Hunk got like this. Lance knew how to comfort Hunk, though when Lance was out of their shared room he was more of an outgoing ass than a mother figure, but he was him nonetheless (and that's what Hunk loved about Lance, that he was acting as himself in every situation).

Before he knew it Hunk had fallen asleep to the sound of Lance singing, and Lance soon drifted off.

 

\--The Next day--

Hunk rolled out of bed. Feeling his eyes puffy from probably crying in his sleep. Even his body knew that this was the anniversary, but he was so confused as to why he was so sensitive this year. 

"Hunk, is everything okay?" Lance walked out of the bathroom with his green morning face mask on 

"Ya, why?" Hunk smiled, rubbing his eyes trying to hide the fact he had cried

"You were sobbing last night. You thrashed and even kicked me out of the bed." Lance walked up to Hunk, who was noticeably not okay

"It was just a nightmare, everyone has them once in a while." Hunk laughed, smiling

"Alright, but if you want to talk. I'm right here." Lance said, returning to the bathroom to complete his 4-hour beauty session. 

Hunk sat on the edge of the bed. He did not want to tell Lance about his past, it was too soon in their relationship for that. It was too soon in their friendship for that. Hunk didn't want anyone to know, he can't let anyone know.

His mother's words rang in his ear:

_Smile. Take a deep breath. No one has to know the troubles you bear. You're okay, everything will pass._

_The past is in the past, don't let it control the present._

_Stifle your emotions, let no one see that you are hurting._

_Hunk, my boy, know that you are loved dearly and that everyone around you cherishes you._

_But you've said it yourself if they find out **those eyes**_ _will forever stain them, and they won't be able to look at you the same. If they ever found out they wouldn't help, they wouldn't seek you out anymore. They would abandon you, they would despise you._

_Dear, remember to always smile. Smiling is good for the soul. To smile is to be free._

 

"Be me, and no one else. I'm the best me there is. No one else can be me." Hunk whispered to himself "Today is just another day. I will do my part, I will not let these emotions affect me. I will be the leg of Voltron, I will help hold the team up. I will be the support for them. I will help carry the burden so that they don't have to. I will pilot Yellow. I will smile, I will laugh, and I will fight through this. Because no matter what happened in the past, is just that, in the past. It has helped mold me, it has helped make me who I am. But I don't have to face  _him_ ever again. I don't have to think of  _him_. I am millions of light years from  _his_ touch. I'll just be here, life in the moment. Be me and no one else. Breathe. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am...... loved."


	2. Hiding In-formation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because the team got separated by Zarkon again Coran thinks that they should try bonding more. But, is bonding with the team really the best course of actions? What if one of them fishes something out of Hunk that they all wished stayed in?

Hunk and Lance got ready, side by side, as they did every morning. Lance to the left of Hunk, holding his hand as if Hunk were the only person in the world. They both brushed their teeth as their morning routines had merged together. 

Allura had announced moments before Hunk started his routine that all the Paladins were needed in their 'uniforms' for training and to meet in the training bay. Hunk was tired, his body torn by his heart, but he chose to keep up his normal air-- or at least try. 

Lance seemed to notice that something was wrong. He had never felt this feeling, the feeling emitting from Hunk. He knew that Hunk was down, that he was displaying a fake mask. They've been together for so long that Lance even knew when Hunk was hungry even before he himself knew. But this... this beast of an aura that was enveloping Hunk.... made Lance very uncomfortable. It made him worry that his man, the man that supports everyone on Voltron more than Voltron herself supports the universe, was hurting.

Lance tried his best to not be obvious that he knew something was wrong. If it was that bad he figured Hunk would tell him. If it was terribly earth shattering he would already know. 

Lance took a breath, trying to realize that he was traveling down a bad path thinking that Hunk, of all people, was keeping something from him.

"I lof yor (I love you)" Lance said with the toothbrush still in his mouth and spit out the toothpaste into the sink, he wiped his face and smiled to Hunk repeating "I love you". Hunk smiled a painful smile, and spit out his toothpaste as well; he wiped his face and was pulled into a kiss directly afterward. Their noses bumping each other because Lance was too eager to get to Hunks lips. 

"I love you, too." Hunk said as Lance put his hands around Hunk and embraced him. 

"I love everything about you, Hunk," Lance said into Hunks chest. He separated and placed a hand on one of Hunks cheeks their eyes connected as if they were a married couple with several decades on their relationship.

"I know, buddy." Hunk laughed, embarrassed, blushing a little at Lance's drunken-love look at him

"Paladins!!" Alura came up onto the intercom system

"Guess that's our cue~" Lance quickly kissed Hunk again. Lance left the comfort of Hunks presence and went to slip into his gear. Hunk followed behind. With the two already in their black undersuits, all they needed was the armor part of their 'uniform'. Hunk got on his armor, his belt safety around him, his boots glowing as they tied themselves, his arms' nicely confined by the newly polished white armor, then he moved to the chest plate (which he usually left for last). 

He took a second and stared at the breastplate of the armor, running his hands over the front; following the weirdly shaped yellow 'V' on the breastplate. He took a breath and tried to stop his thoughts, but they ran away from him. His mind not able to stop the process due to his thoughts already being scattered.

His eyes narrowed as he remembered the first day he saw it (the armor), saw the expectation of a Paladin, saw how _they_ were supposed to look... how he was supposed to look: like Shiro.... like _him_. Tall, muscular, slim and fit. He was none of those things. He was round, with a big stomach and a big head that he has to rip the helmet from every time he takes it off.... he was not what a Paladin of Voltron was supposed to be.

The Paladins of old knew each other since birth, they liked flying-- it was their destiny. But Hunk...Hunk didn't even like flying, he hated the feeling. Somehow, Yellow understood that. Yellow was the single reason he stayed (other than Lance). Yellow seemed like she knew. Like she cared. Yellow made flying bearable, her armor stable and making her sturdy and slower than Blue, Red and Black. He hardly felt like he was suspended in space.... like he was drifting into nothingness (at least that was when she talked to him; if she was silent like she had been the first few flights, he felt uncomfortable and like he didn't belong).

He looked at the yellow of his armor simply noting that it was a little bit of a hue off of Yellow's actual color. 

 

Hunk felt Lance's hand on his un-armored shoulder pulling him out of his thoughts "Come on Hunk, do I have to dress you~" Lance teased

"N-No, it's fine." Hunk smiled and put on the chest plate, securing it and grabbing his helmet as the two left their room. 

They walked down to the training bay everyone there and waiting on them alone. Hunk felt terrible.

"Sorry, guys!" Hunk laughed 

"Where were you two?" Shiro asked, slightly concerned

"Hunk just needed help getting dressed~" Lance lightly nudged Hunk

"I-It's not like that!" Hunk panicked

The other three laughed at Hunk's attempt to cover up an event they all knew didn't happen. 

"Alright, Paladins!" Coran started, clearing his throat and getting their attention "We are going to do an exercise that you are all familiar with," he pulled out the same brainwave crowns that they wore the second day they were tossed out here into this war. 

"We are going to do the mind link thing?" Lance asked walking up to one of the crowns

Hunk's breath stopped for a second; his heart ricocheted inside his chest making him feel like his chest was caving in. They would find out the second he took a breath and cleared his mind. They would all find out about the past, they would all know what was bothering him. They would all learn about _him._ He was lucky that Pidge was thinking of her family last time, otherwise, his food facade wouldn't have stayed up. They can't know. They can't learn. They can't find out. 

_Lance can not find out_.

Hunk took in a deep breath, a deep shaking breath. What's he going to do? 

He began to feel sick. 

_Be there for them. You can't worry about your own feelings all the time._ His mother's words sounded in his ears again. 

He shook his head and decided to concentrate on trying to get through this exercise without everyone finding out. Coran's words became nothing more than white noise to him. He knows he should be paying attention, but right now the most important thing is to keep his emotions at bay and calm down.

Hunk found a small idea that might work. He thought that maybe if they could form Voltron fast enough then a simple food _might_ be the go-to thing. It wouldn't hurt to try it again. 

Hunk closed his eyes for a second. Breathing. Thinking. He opened them and saw that Lance was looking at him concerned. That's when Hunk thought, that Lance might've seen through him. 

_What if...?_

Hunk began to think that there is a small chance that Lance would use this opportunity to find out why he thrashed last night. That because Hunk wouldn't tell him, that Lance would dig and search through Hunks head. It was obvious now that Lance seemed to figure out something was wrong, that something was off, but he seemed he couldn't pinpoint it.

Hunk knew that if he were in Lance's position he'd use the opportunity to _help_. 

_Please don't..._ Hunk thought to himself  _Please....._ He let out a trying-to-be calming breath

 

"Ready?" Coran's voice called through the room, him moving up to the overlooking room at some point. 

"Ready!" Shiro confidently spat back. 

They were all sitting in a circle, just like a painfully similar view of the last time they did this.... the second day out here in space.

 

_How long ago was that?_  

 

"Alright, close your eyes and open your minds. Clear your mind of all troubles," Hunk breathed as Coran spoke, his voice oddly calming. 

Hunk was actually calm, he thought of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. It always seemed to help in the past. He concentrated hard on the thought of each individual chip, of the taste of the minty ice cream making him feel like he was eating after just brushing his teeth. It was weird to be comforted by that, weird to think that such a simple dairy product is helping keep his mind offline. 

But then, out of nowhere, he felt uncomfortable. The second he tried to picture Yellow and her calming purr so that they could form the hologram version of Voltron, he felt a hand digging.

 

**It felt wrong.**  

 

He tried to reverse the hand, he tried to find out who was digging. He tried so hard. But the hand was too hell bent on finding out something. Hunk began to shake, trying instead to guide the hand down a path that it thought it knew. The path of lies and only happiness. The path of food and comfort. The path of laughs and joy. The path of Lance.

But the hand seemed to not want to listen. Hunk began to sweat, he began to breathe heavily. The hand clawed, struggled, and forced it's way around. No matter the effort Hunk gave, no matter how hard he pushed the hand seemed to know where it needed to go. 

A familiar feeling reverberated throughout Hunks whole body and his guiding ended. The hand found what it was looking for. It dug and dug.  

Until Hunk felt it hit the exact place he didn't want it. The hand seemingly found what it wanted began to retreat as if it knew everything about Hunk. Hunk felt violated, he couldn't imagine who would use this exercise to do such a thing (he refused to think that Lance's hand would feel so vulgar). Hunk panicked and pushed it out with force as if it weren't retreating fast enough. However, the hand had left a hole where it had been digging, and the push Hunk gave not only pushed the hand out of his mind but also a memory from the past. 

" _ **YOU ARE WORTHLESS!!**_ " A disembodied orotund voice screamed at the top of its lungs in Hunks head as if it were right there with him.

All the Paladins shot their eyes open, ripped off the brainwave crowns, braced themselves either forward or back and breathed heavily. The voice conserving with them all. 

They all felt the pain, they all felt a short amount of sadness, a spat of Hunks pure emotions. 

"What was that?!" Keith questioned. 

They all looked at each other not knowing where the origin of the voice came from. The voice still echoing in their heads. Hunk played along trying to make everyone think that it wasn't him either, but he knew that one of them knew. 

"Is everyone okay?" Allura asked though she ran to only Shiro's side

"Yes, Princess. I have no clue what happened."

There was a silence between them. They knew that _someone_ was keeping a secret (one of them knowing who), that someone had lived through that voice telling them that daily.... it was too clear for them not to think that. But they all seemed to understand that they shouldn't press the matter, at least not right now. 

"Let's try forming Voltron..." Alura said, not totally convinced that with those events that it would be successful.

 

The five got into their lions. Hunk just sat in Yellow's seat, he didn't even grab her steering. He breathed in her specific metallic smell, different from Blue's. He heard her purr and give a motherly growl. 

"Thank's Yellow...." Hunk laughed a little imagining that she put the idea in his head to cry because he needed to let it out. That she put in the idea that he could trust her, and she would do her best to comfort him. She knew of the past Yellow Paladin, he too went through hardships, he too went through hell and back. She purred as if saying that he needed to confide in his team, to trust them. 

_They are more loving than you know._ He felt her say 

"Hunk?" Lance's voice came on over the head-com set.

"Ya, I'm coming. Yellow and I just needed to talk for a second." Hunk said laughing "I'm so hungry guys! Why do we have to train without eating?" He began to joke like his normal self

Hunk joined them, the four waiting on him and him alone, again. 

They all stood in a line, 

"Alright, we are going to run in formation and then fly and form Voltron. We've done this plenty of times by now." Shiro said to them, his leadership becoming more prominent since him and Alura announced their relationship to all of them. It was as if he were trying to dazzle and impress her.

They did just as Shiro said. Running beside each other and then flying in formation, however, what Hunk had expected to happen occurred:  nothing. 

"Was everyone connecting with their Lions?" Shiro asked as if this was the first day they tried this

Every shook their head and added a whisper of a 'ya' to it. 

 

They were at it for hours (5 to be exact). Hunk was getting antsy, he knew it was his fault that Yellow wasn't forming. That Yellow didn't want to bond with her siblings. He thought that it might be that she could convey his emotions to them and then the others would know. He felt connected when Voltron formed anyway, he could only imagine what would happen if they formed Voltron while his mental state was in such a mess. 

With Allura's approval, they all decided to take a little break. 

Hunk stayed in Yellow for a little. Not wanting to see Lance or anyone else for a moment.  

He didn't feel like himself. 

He was holding back tears as Yellow voiced her concerns to him, but they went silent to Hunk. He heard all the same words, again and again, he didn't need them  _again._

After he thought the coast was clear he got out of Yellow, though against her preference, and rushed towards his room. 

_I don't like this feeling...._ Hunk supported himself of the wall to his left, as his pace became slower. 

Guilt washing over him. He knew that they couldn't form Voltron because of  _him. He_ was clouding his mind. 

Because the feeling of that hand digging around was still in his head, the taste of _his_ words coating his mind with a blinding veil; the feeling of Yellow telling him that he  **had** to tell the team because he was holding back his everything made him started to slowly convulse. 

_I can't have them worry about me._ He began to think to himself  _I can't have them see. They can't know. It's in the past. Take a breath, it will be okay._ He tried once more to swallow his emotions.

But for some reason, it was too much. 

"I feel sick...." Hunk said, covering his mouth "It's.... why is it so hard? Why is this year, literally, the worst?" Hunk fell to his knees.

_This time is the worst. We can't even form Voltron because of me..._  He began to let his emotions spill into his brain _Yellow is protecting me, bless her, but... if we can't form Voltron because of me I don't belong here; if I can't stifle these emotions like normal then what purpose do I have to be a Paladin of Voltron? Why am I even here? Why did I follow Lance that day? Why did we follow Pidge? Why did we get on Keith's bike? Why did I get into Blue with everyone else? Why did she think I could handle this? Why did Yellow accept me? Yellow knows me, she probably can see into my head.... she probably knows.... if she were human she would have the same eyes. What if she doesn't believe in me after this? What if she thinks I'm not good enough for Voltron? What if when I return home Zarkon has taken it over? What if....?_

Hunks mind became jumbled and fractured, confused and scattered. He was overwhelming himself

Hunk fell onto his stomach, giving up on keeping himself sturdy. He curled up and threw up stomach acid, not eating breakfast was probably a good idea otherwise space goo would be all over the floor right now. 

"I just need to check on Hunk," Shiro's voice echoed in the hallway

"I'll come with you," Pidge said, usually following Shiro as if his child. 

 

Hunk didn't want Shiro or Pidge..... he wanted Lance. 

He wants Lance's smooth words, his porcelain brown sugar skin, his dark brown silk hair, his fragile body..... the only thing on his mind, right now, was Lance and it felt so good.

 

"Oh. My. God!! Hunk!!" Shiro yelled, his voice echoing through the room. 

"Hunk..." Pidge gasped

Hunk felt Shiro's touch on him, it made him feel worse, he threw up again. It felt like the hand that had wandered in his head, the hand that had picked and prodded and refused to listen to reason. The hand that was the cause of everything today. Like a hand wanting **nothing** but to violate him.

Like  _his_ hand. 

"Don't...." Hunk heaved, his breath getting sharp and hitching at the exit. He got extremely dizzy "touch me..." Hunk began to cry

"Lance!!" Shiro yelled he listened to Hunk not touching him for the time being "LANCE!!" Shiro called angrily and nudged Pidge to go get Lance. 

Pidge ran fast going to get Lance. 

"Pidge, what's got into you?" Lance came into view, his voice faded once he spotted Hunk melted on the ground. 

That moment he saw that he was right. That his man was in pain, that Hunk was keeping something from him, that he should've kept questioning. He saw Hunk crying, throw up pooling around him and tears staining his eyes. Lance had never wanted to see Hunk like this, none of them did. None of them expected Hunk to be vulnerable about anything. They never thought they'd see him trying to hold a burden that he wasn't built for. Shiro shook at the shocked expression plastered over Lance's face. Hunk was sunshine and rainbows, Lance was bad pickup lines and perverted banter.... neither of them should be able to look like this.  

Lance looked at Hunk, their eyes connecting for a single moment until Hunk's eyes rolled up and he passed out. Lance felt his own heart break, the sharp pain making Lance take a step back before he called out, 

 

 

 

"HUNK!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for commenting! I didn't think that anyone would want to see this type of book, but thanks for the support! I will be updating three times a week (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Again, thanks.


	3. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just seeing Lance made Hunk feel satisfied, he let loose everything and passed right out. He didn't care that Shiro and Pidge were there, all he cared about--all he is about-- is Lance. But how far is Hunk going to push it? Just how far is he going to take it for Lance?

"HUNK!" Lance's voice cracked as he shouted for Hunk. He rushed over to Hunk, his soul, and mind racing to figure out just what the issue had been. "What happened?!" Lance questioned to Shiro as if he had witnessed a murder

"I-I don't know. I wanted to check on him because he was acting weird when we were trying to form Voltron." Shiro said, wondering why he was the one trying to defend himself

"I knew it! Damn it!" Lance was pissed, to say the least, but he was also very discouraged. Why hadn't Hunk confided in him? Why didn't Hunk tell him that he wasn't feeling good? Why did Hunk try to bear a burden that he wasn't meant to bear alone? "Whatever it may be, we need to get him to a cryopod and get him fixed up as soon as possible!" 

Shiro and Lance each took an arm of Hunks and put them around their shoulders, slowly standing up. Hunk felt lighter than he appeared, which concerned Lance. Pidge guided them to the crypods, Lance's anxiousness was making so that his sense of direction was askew. Lance's heart raced, him never seeing Hunk like this in his life-- even when they were just friends.

They made it to the cryopods, but Hunk wasn't an easy fit and that wasn't even the most difficult part of it. The Cryopod wouldn't activate. It sprawled out Altean as if Lance and the other two could understand that Hunk wasn't physically injured. 

Lance paused, "No!" Lance kicked the cryopod "He's not okay!! Do the 'whoosh'! Fix him!"  When the cryopod did nothing Lance panicked "Allura!" he called into his communication device

"Lance, is everything alright?" She questioned back, 

"No! Hunk is--" Lance swallowed back tears "I don't know what's wrong with him! The cryopod won't fix him and I-I-I can't lose him!" 

"Oh dear, this is not okay. Coran and I will be there shortly. Keep him laying flat on the ground and his head elevated on something soft. Try talking to him." Alura gave the most elementary ways to make someone feel better, as if this were just a simple earth cold or if Hunk has passed out from flight. But he hasn't ever passed out from flight, he's just thrown up which that alone he hasn't done in months! 

"I don't understand!! He's not okay!!" Lance called in confusion, his brows pressing together as he tried to calm himself, but it was not working, if anything it was making him worse. Lance took a second breath and got Shiro's help getting Hunk out of the cryopod, they gently set him down (on the floor). Lance sat at Hunks head, coasted near so his thighs could be used as the soft surface for Hunk to put his head onto. Lance let out a breath and looked at his boyfriend, at his main support, passed out.

Lance thought back to last night when he _knew_ Hunk was not well... not well at all. He began to curse himself, wondering why he let Hunk go out of the room. 

"Lance?" Shiro placed a reassuring hand on Lances shoulder "He'll be okay--"

"He..." Lance interrupted Shiro "He was crying last night. He sobbed and talked in his sleep. He woke me up when he thrashed forward. He... he's never done that," Lance just looked down at Hunks sleeping-distressed face. Lance bit his lower lip and then picked up an old anxiety habit and began to bite down (and lightly chew) on his tongue. "I asked him if he was alright, but he didn't tell me. Which means that there is something wrong with him. There is something that... that he can't even share with me:  His boyfriend!"

 Lance was obviously caught off guard. He never thought that Hunk of all people would be dealing with such an event like this and hide it from him. How bad could the event be anyway?

"I mean..." Lance continued, his eyes not leaving Hunk "were soul mates. It doesn't matter what we've been through, we'll always love each other..... that's what you told me... remember, Hunk?" Lance lifted his head and refused to let the tears go and swallowed the bubble in his throat

"Lance..." Pidge had dismissed her normal sarcastic nature, this scene not open for it. 

"Lance!" Allura called as she and Coran finally showed up. She looked down to Hunk and covered her mouth in surprise "Let's take him to the med-bay!" Allura said to Coran (and Shiro)

Lance helped (like hell he was going to watch his man be carried without helping). 

They walked a little bit deeper into the castle, to a med-bay that the three didn't even know existed. Allura and Coran explained it to them on the way saying that when the cryopod didn't detect an injury that most people went to the med-bay, but since this hasn't been the case lately there has been no need for it. 

They got to the med-bay, which looked like a doctors office had a child with the dentists'. In the middle of the room was a reclining seat with wires, sharp objects, and medications all around it. Lance and Shiro placed Hunk on the seat (at this point Keith had joined the worrying party). 

Allura and Coran put a lot of wires on Hunk, but before they could they had to ask the team to leave the room so that they could put the wires in all the necessary places (meaning they had to undress Hunk and wanted to leave him with some pride).

 

Lance had to be **forcibly** separated from Hunks side. 

 

When Hunk was all wired and covered properly Allura allowed the other four back into the room. 

Lance covered his mouth at the sight of his boyfriend hooked up to alien technology. To see Hunk in this type of state. 

Beside Hunk was his armor and black suit folded nicely, as well as his orange headband that had to be removed so that they could put a sensor on Hunk's forehead.

Lance grabbed the headband, let out a sobbing breath but still held back the tears. He breathed in and fastened the headband around his wrist. 

There was a short silence as everyone waited for the machines to tell them what was wrong. 

Lance was about to question why it was taking so long, but Pidge broke the silence,

"What if.... what if _that_ voice earlier was from Hunk?"

Everyone turned to her. Everyone wide-eyed. 

"No. It wasn't." Lance said

"Lance, you have to think logically about this--" 

"I am. Hunk wouldn't keep something like _that_ voice from me! Hunk.... just wouldn't."

"Lance," Pidge persisted

"Shut it." Lance glared down to Pidge, his aura displayed a nauseatingly evil sense to it. Pidge shivered at the knowledge that Lance could look like that, that he could get so mad to a point where his sea blue eyes fell dead and glowed as if he were a cat. His posture possessive and demanding, his head at an angle. 

"I...." Pidge couldn't form any words, so she ran out. 

"Lance!" Keith said angrily, about to scold him

"Don't!" Lance turned to Keith and pointed at him in a vulgar form, his eyes still dead and glowing as if he were possessed "Hunk isn't like that. He wouldn't keep anything from me. We've told each other everything!" Lance emphasized with his hands. He was fighting his own thoughts, frustrated that his friends voiced all of his minds concerns. 

He was pulled out of his hatred rage when Hunks heartbeat echoed in the room. Lance rushed to his side and intertwined his hand with Hunks. Lance just looked at Hunks face and didn't say a thing. He was afraid he'd hurt another one of his friends.... he made a mental note to apologize to Pidge after all of this if she could even look at him. 

After a little bit Allura let out a sigh, whether it was a sigh of relief or agitation was unknown

"Will he be okay?" Shiro asked, voicing Lance's concerns

"The scans show that nothing is wrong with him physically," Allura said surprising them all

"Then what is wrong with him.....?" Lance questioned in almost a whisper

"I don't...." Allura paused, looking one last time at the Altean symbols _**'Nothing found'**_.  "I don't know." 

* * *

 

Everyone left Lance and Hunk alone. Allura said that Hunk should wake up in a few hours when they left, but the amount of time that has passed since then is unknown. 

Lance held onto Hunks hand, his own hand shaking and he was trying to calm it down. He tried to breathe how Hunk had taught him when he had his first anxiety attack out here. The first real conversation with Hunk outside of the Garrison.

"Why didn't you... we always come to you for our problems, but where do you go?" Lance blinked his eyes fast trying to hold back

He breathed in and out. In and out. Big breath in through the nose and slowly out the mouth. He brought Hunks hand up to his cheek and pressed his face into Hunks soft skin.

"Hunk, babe," Lance said as if Hunk would reply. He thumbed the Orange headband and continued "You know that you can trust me, right? No matter what I won't think any differently about you. I love you. I thought you knew that we could be public about anything and everything. You know my history, my siblings were difficult to deal with, my older brother making fun of me knowing how to sew and knit. Mom and dad were always at work so someone had to be able to help my younger siblings when their pants or shirts ripped, I almost started to cry when I was telling you but.... but then you said," Lance laughed "Remember what you said? 'Sowing and knitting, that means your good with your hands, right?'. " Lance laughed gain "That still makes me laugh." He let out a sigh "What can I do?" Lance paused, time an illusion to him in this moment, he looked at Hunk's face which looked like he was in a nightmare "Pidge said the weirdest thing.... she thinks that voice earlier, the one that made me want to throw up and curl up in a ball of despair, was from you... W-W-W-Was that voice really from your head? If so, how did it get out? How did it get there in the first place? Who's voice was it?" Lance finally let a tear drop down his cheek, stopping at Hunks skin "Hunk, if it was from you, why don't I know?"

Lance let the tears begin to flow as he held onto Hunk's hand, the comfort of his night and day, the hand that grabbed his heart the second Hunk comforted Lance back on that day in training. Lance thought they could just be friends, but as he got closer to Hunk they got paired with each other in every exercise. It was Hunk and Lance against the world. Everyone just called it Hance for short (or the occasional Lunk). It was cute. Lance liked back then, back when he and Hunk were all smiles and love. When it was subtle brushes against each other, and quiet words that only the other could hear. Sweet nothings that no one else could understand, like a sexy inside joke. Though Lance liked that, he knew that a real relationship would be more than that, with arguments and moments like this..... but he wanted to know why Hunk got like this. He wanted to know who that voice was so that Lance could counter voice it. Lance wanted to comfort Hunk, he wanted to conceal him in a hug like he did last night. 

Last night. Lance looked back on that hug. Hunk was troubled and just fell asleep to Lance's voice. He wished he pressed it a little more, though he was a little too tired to comprehend anything anyway. But Hunk had told him time and time again that holding in things meant it was inevitable for it to blow up in your face. He remembered Hunk's words

_You have to talk! Not just to me, but to others too. People can't know how your feeling if you hide behind jokes and banter and pickup lines._

Lance lightly cursed Hunk, wishing he took his own advice. But then Lance thought about singing to Hunk and remembered that when he stopped just before he fell asleep he heard Hunk call out an unknown name to him. Lance had never heard Hunk say the name before, let alone with so much terror and disgust coating it. 

Lance cupped Hunks sleeping face with one of his hands, "Hunk, what happened to you?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support so far guys! I'm glad to see some of you really liking the book.


	4. Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk's body shuts down, but his brain keeps ticking. But what way is it ticking?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4,185 words later.... I hope you guys enjoy the long update!

Hunk's eyes slowly opened. He was relieved that he actually made it out alive. He thought the stress might kill him this time.

_Wow.... I'm an idiot. I wonder how Lance reacted.... I passed out once I saw him. I feel so bad. He shook his head _I can't go down that path!! I've had my meltdown, now I should be alright. I'll smile and joke, I'll eventually guide myself back to my normal self. No one has to know.__

Hunk moved, he felt the comfort of a bed enveloping his body so he assumed Lance had taken him back to their room. He looked around, the small things he could see in the dark looked a little familiar but not like the castle. Hunk let out a sigh as he cupped his head in his hands, he expected that he had been out for at least a day or two if not three in the end. He had a small panic attack when his headband was not tied around his forehead. He jumped up and went to search for it, but his foot landed on a toy and he fell face first onto the carpeted floor. 

Hunk paused. He was remarkably confused. He ran his hand through the carpet and as he took a breath he smelled an old smell that he never thought he'd be able to smell ever again. He sat up, his brows wrinkled together. A dim light showed through a curtain on the other side of the room. He hesitantly walked over to it, his feet walking on their own as if he were being guided toward the light. 

He grabbed the curtain, it's fabric rough and chillingly familiar. He pulled back the curtain letting in the sunlight blinding him for a second. When his eyes adjusted he saw the old view from his old bedroom, back at his old house. He teared up. He never thought he'd get to see this view again. He wished to see it while at the Garrison and he wanted it even more when he thought that they would never return to earth. But here he was, staring out at the beautiful foliage, at the homegrown spices and herbs, at the stream crafted by his father. He basked in the view for a moment. He placed his hand over his warming heart but was confused when his hand touched a small body instead of his own. 

He looked down as if to address the body, not knowing what to think. He then turned, a familiar air seeping into his nostrils. Not only was he graced with his old view, but he was standing in his old bedroom. His mechanical and medical remedy books all over his desk with the lamp still on, his notes everywhere. The toy he had tripped over was not a toy at all, it was his first invention, he called it a Diet-tron. The Diet-tron, when attached to the body, would calculate the exact food that was needed to be inputted for maximum efficiency. He had yet to finish it because he wanted to be able to add a feature for lazy and active days. He stared at it as he remembered it, a little nostalgic. He walked towards his bed, but his face turned to be met with a reflection of himself. It was not the reflection he was anticipating, though, looking back at him was none other than his seven-year-old self.

Hunk placed a hand on the mirror, looking at his silly space footy pajamas and his messy bed head. He smiled a little, his younger self stood as thin as an active seven-year-old. Hunk closed his eyes and was happy that his brain had taken him back, had brought him back to the time before it all went to hell. 

 

There was a small knock at his door followed by  _his_ voice. 

"Hunk, are you going to come out for breakfast?"

Hunk staggered backward, realizing that this dream was not a gift. If it were to be labeled as anything it would be a curse. He just had this dream the other day, but it was only the act of the event, nothing about what lead up to it. Hunk began to panic, now knowing what was happening. He wanted nothing more than to double over and throw up, wanted nothing more than to stop this from happening, but he remembered when he tried that last night.... it slightly (not slightly at all) backfired. He swallowed the bile at the edge of his esophagus and choked out an answer to  _him._

"I'll be right there...." 

Just talking to _him_  made him want to throw up. He shivered. He really didn't want to go through this again....

 

Hunk let out a small cry as he got ready, his hands guiding themselves to a simple yellow shirt with 'Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't' printed in black letters across the chest and navy blue pants. As he dressed he realized that his body lay so flat, so thin, so..... so innocent. Hunk went to reach for his orange headband, but he knew that he didn't have the headband back in this time, he felt naked without it.

Hunk exited his old room, the height difference slightly disorienting. He looked to his left and eyed _his_ room, he shivered and turned the opposite direction and walked through the old layout of his home. He walked through the living room to the dining room which was connected to the kitchen; Hunk stopped at the threshold of the dining room and looked at his mother. She was smiling. He forgot what it looked like for her to smile so wholeheartedly. Hunk looked at her young face, her un-grey hair and he smiled a little. Hunk then looked at  _him_ , sitting and talking normally. _His_ face smiling huge, _his_ large jawline mimicking that of _his_ father. _His_ sand dune hued eyes almost tearing up due to _his_   loud laughing. 

"You gonna join?"  _he_ asked looking at Hunk. _His_  body was thick, but a muscular thick. _His_ body sculpted and prepped specifically for fighting any threat to the family. _His_ hands large and calloused because of _him_ woking hard at the shop down the road and _his_ side delinquent journeys. Hunk looked at  _his_ hair, it was straight and a deep brown, falling unevenly down his forehead and slightly down mid-neck. Hunk wheezed out a reply and sat at the table beside  _him._ Beside the man that was the reason for all his future pain, beside the reason his whole world comes crashing down, beside the pain of a man that crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed, beside a man that he used to respect. He sat beside Victor, his older brother. 

Their mother set plates piled with food in front of the two. Victor dove right in and shoved food into his mouth. 

"Come on, Hunk!" Victor nudged Hunk "Eat up, so you can become strong like me!" Victor flexed, his off green t-shirt stretching at the bicep

 _I... I don't want to be here...._ Hunk thought

"What are your plans for the day, Victor?" Hunks Mother asked, sitting at the table with her own plate of bacon and eggs.

"Chance and I were going to go cruising around, maybe chill at his place or something."

"Lance?" Hunk flinched at the similarities in the names, him long forgetting about Chance. 

"No, Chance, silly." Victor laughed "I was thinking it might be good for Hunk to come along, he needs to get his head out of those books for today."

"I don't want to go" Hunk fought, knowing where things would go if he went with Victor

"Oh come on, Hunk! You've been locked in your room for the whole weekend, your nose stuffed into those books."

"I want to be able to pick up dad's research." Hunk said under his breath, still audible. 

Even in his current time he's still hell-bent on taking after his father. His father, as good as any Garrison commander, died during and experiment he collaborated on with the Garrison scientists. Hunk's father was alive for a few minutes after the explosion but he had glass and corrosive chemicals all over him, he didn't last long. A few days after the explosion the Garrison dropped by with some of Hunk's father's things, one of them being a large green vest jacket. Victor refused to take it, due to him being pissed at the Garrison for letting this happen in the first place, so naturally it was given to Hunk but back in this time he was too small to fit into what he finds to be his future coping skill that can help for small anxiety attacks (well that and his headband). 

"Chance can help you with that, he loves science."

"I know...."

"Then it's settled, you'll come with me and go to Chance's house!" Victor happily smiled 

"Victor," Their mother began "Is the only thing you're going to be doing, hanging out with Chance?" 

"We might go visit the Garrison," Victor smirked

"You mean just pick a fight with them, right?" their mother asked with a laugh

"It will be fine, we haven't gotten caught yet!" Victor talked with food in _his_ mouth, but _his_ voice was still clear as if _he_ didn't. 

Hunk began to fidget. He hated this normal family banter. It was wrong. It felt uncomfortable. It felt disgusting. It wasn't his Voltron family.... it wasn't right.

"Done!!" Victor said slamming the milk glass on the table "Ready Hunk?"  _he_ asked as  _he_ stood

"Ya...." Hunk lowly voiced as he slid off of his chair.

Hunk hugged his mother 'good-bye' knowing that this would be the last time her smile would be truthful; that she would only give him words of control after this; that the next time he saw her, she would never be able to look at him the same. Hunk let go of her and followed Victor to _his_  purple air propelled, self-made, bike. Hunk got onto the bike with assistance from Victor who sat directly behind Hunk and held onto him as _he_ started the bike and headed towards Chance's home.  Hunk wanted to jump off, he wanted to overreact and hurt Victor, but he knew that no matter what he did nothing would change. He knew that if he even fought a little it cold force the events to speed up a little, and that was the last thing he wanted to do so Hunk stomached the whole ride to Chance's home..... where  _it_ is going to happen.... happen out of nowhere. 

 

 

Victor parked  _his_ bike, leaving it still running. Victor let out a sigh and raised a brow and looking thoroughly confused "Chance said he'd be waiting outside, hold on let me check on him." Victor left Hunk at the bike hovering to tall for him to get down without great effort and disappeared into Chance's small double wide trailer. Beside the home was a small makeshift garage that looked out of place and more like a clubhouse than a garage. 

Hunk mentally screamed

His thin hands began to shake, he wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared. He didn't understand why this was happening right now. He was confused as to why his brain decided to freak out, pass out, and come directly to the thing that he was panicking about. Why did he have to relive this so vividly? Why couldn't he change what happened? It's a dream, whatever he want's to happen should happen. But that's not the case here, he knows that if he tries one thing that didn't happen then he would be forced to the event. And he was going to prevent that as much as possible hoping that he would wake before it got there.

 

"Sorry about that Hunk!" Victor came back out after about half an hour of trying to 'search' for Chance. 

Chance walked out, his body shaped almost identical to Keith's, but his hair platinum blond and pointing up into a little shark fin of a mow hawk. Keeping his intimidation level up Chance had on an orange cloth headband, the tails of it falling on his shoulders and the rim covering his thick red eyebrows. His complexion slightly pink and on his face, he wore thick framed glasses that had tape connecting the bridge in the middle. Chance's fashion sense was half armor and half actual clothing, aesthetically placed around his body making him appear stunning and beautiful. 

"Hey, Hunk!" Chance called waving. Hunk had long forgotten Chance's voice, a voice of reason and concern, a voice of innocence and delicacy, a voice coated in honey and sweets. 

"Hey, Chance...." Hunk said, his voice cracking

"I didn't know you would be joining us," Chance guided out his own makeshift bike from the makeshift garage, its color a bright green that matched his eyes. 

"Ya, he practically begged me!" Victor laughed, lying through _his_ teeth, as _he_ rejoined Hunk on the bike. Victor clung to Hunk pulling him closer to _him_ as if to keep him safer

"So are we going to go to town or--"

"We are going to go meet Dextra and Vince," Victor said, smiling at Chance

"No," Chance said pointing to Hunk and staring at Victor

"That's not want you told mom." Hunk said, in a low grumbly voice. He slowly began to believe in the dream, believe that he was truly back here. Chance was the step that it took for him to think so. In all the dreams before he never saw Chance, even though he was part of the event that will forever imprint itself on Hunk's life. So seeing Chance was kind of like a numbing element. 

He began to forget about Voltron, about his future, about yellow, about...... even about Lance.

"I know it's not what I told mom, but I want to go see Dextra and Vince before we go to the Garrison. They both want to join anyway."

Hunk had no reply, but Chance did "No, Dextra is a terrible influence in Hunk! They don't understand boundaries and whenever I misidentify them they lash out on me! They are rude and nothing but a bad influence"

"You and Dextra have always butted heads. They came out as genderfluid and you couldn't handle it. Plus Dextra has Vince to keep them calm."

"Bringing Vince into this argument is a bad example! He's worse then Dextra. He goes overboard with every little job that we do, he pushes it until we are on the brink of death and then wonders how we got into that situation. He's brutal and cruel." 

"You've just got a grudge against him because he's rich, and shaped like a glorious black god." Victor bantered back

"It's still not a good idea!" Chance said not denying the fact

"You can stay here if you want Chance. The three of us can take on the Garrison without you."

"You mean the four of us," Hunk pitched in, cringing at his own enthusiasm

"Of course," Victor laughed and rubbed Hunks head, messing his hair up

"Oh, I'm still coming. You guys need a voice of reason, and someone to explain to the Garrison that you are all idiots." Chance snickered 

The three of them headed out. Chance was not that far behind Victor and Hunk. Chance liked to watch Victor's back making sure that it was safe and sturdy at all times. Out of everyone in the whole world, Chance knew Victor the best. Not even Hunks own mother knew Victor as well as Chance. Some people would say that Chance was like Victor's wife, keeping _him_ stable and fixing all _his_ problems while cooking the occasional meal for _him_. In Hunks whole life, in the future or past, he had never seen someone so dedicated to a friend. 

It was almost like **love**. 

 

The three biked for about fifteen minutes, to half an hour, being a little late as well. Dextra cursed at Victor for being late and then hit _him_ when they saw that Victor had brought Hunk along. 

"Are you a fucking tool? Your brothers gonna die!!"

"Dextra." Vince voiced in Dextra's ear seductively, stopping them from continuing

"He asked to come along," Victor said as _he_ got off the bike and helped Hunk off.

"It's fine, whatever, we all know how you are about your brother...." Vince said in a slightly disgusted tone

Dextra shook off Vince "So are we going to blow up the Garrison or not?"

"WHAT?!" Chance exclaimed, "B-b-b-blow it up?!"

"You didn't tell him?" Dextra asked

"Would you have?"

"True." Dextra looked at Chance "It's not going to be huge, just enough to show them that we mean business. Once it goes off we are going to go in with the stun guns and blast a few people, snake out, and go home free."

"It's not going to be that simple, and you know it!" Chance let out a breath as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his brow "You three..." He cursed, knowing full well that fighting too much would be useless and just decided to go with it, though he was 100% against it "I'm back up, I'm not going in. I'll have your backs and if you **desperately** need me, I'll come in. Or if you get captured." He made eye contact with Hunk "And Hunk is staying with me."

 

* * *

 

The Garrison was finally in sight, the facility smaller than in Hunk's time. The main building constructing to make it to what Hunk now knows. 

"Alright, this is far enough." Chance said, not wanting them to be seen too soon

"We'll be back in no time, and if we aren't here in an hour or so then leave without us," Victor said mostly to no one but hoping that Chance would listen to _him_.

The three left Hunk and Chance and headed inside.

"Will _he_ be alright?" Hunk asked, his future emotions gone completely at this point.

"Your brother may be an idiot, but _he's_ strong. Last time the two of us did this _he_ was handcuffed and still beat the daylights out of a squad of Garrison soldiers." Chance laughed, his face lightly blushing

The two conversed, talking about what they could do when they reached back at Chance's home. Hunk even talked about doing some experiments or maybe just cooking a ton of food. They bonded for about half an hour until a large blast scared the both of them and out of the blast came riding their three delinquents. 

"Go!!" Dextra shouted

Behind her was Vince and Victor riding their bikes, they all looked super happy their mission apparently a success. 

"Let's go!!" Victor yelled

"What happened?!" Chance questioned as he started his bike up, thinking that something might've gone wrong. 

"Go now, questions later!" Victor said

In a moment of pure unadulterated panic, Chance drove back to the meeting place. There was no possible way for Chance to contact Victor without giving away his position so Hunk and Chance just chilled out for about an hour until the other three met up with them. When the other three arrived Chance was pacing back and forth, like a worried mother. 

"Sorry, we had to go into the desert and lose our entourage in 'Dead man's' cave". Victor apologized as Hunk ran and hugged him

"I'm just glad the three of you are alright... I was thinking of calling you but I didn't want to give up our location to the Garrison with the small chance they would come after us too."

 "Good idea, knowing Iverson want's our heads he might just come after you guys if he knew where you two were," Victor said smiling at Chance

"It was no problem, though, we just had three platoons of Garrison soldiers on out asses blasting actual lasers at us. Intent to kill." Dextra said as if it wasn't a big deal "It was easy, would've been easier if Vince wasn't edging them on, cursing at 'em and calling names."

"I was properly motivating them." Vince defended

"I can't believe you three...." Chance let out a sigh. There was a long pause, a long wait "Well, it won't do us any good just standing here. Let's head to my house. We'll discuss this there."

"Your house smells weird, let's just go to mine," Vince said "The servants will--"

"No." Dextra and Victor stopped him "Just, no." They said in sync

"Well, I never!" Vince pretended to be hurt

"Ready to go back to Chance's house, Hunk?" Victor asked

"Ya, sure," Hunk said smiling, "I miss it already." 

"It's only been about two hours since we left, silly." Victor laughed at Hunk's sarcasm and put him on his bike

"Alright, let's head to your house, Chance" They all got onto their bikes and began heading toward Chance's house. 

"So what are we even going to do when we get to your house?" Dextra yelled as they biked parallel to Chance

"I was thinking I would make us some victory food and then we'd play a silly game that we would have to ban after a few heated rounds."

"That sound's like any normal day...." Vince said, a little bored

"Isn't that the point? We are not even 25 yet, we should be living our lives to the--" Chance's words stopped at a loud banging noise behind them, it was as if he were scared. His eyes flashed with pain, the noise shocking them all, but Chance was off.... He grabbed his stomach and lost control of his bike. Falling to the side at 80 miles per hour. 

"CHANCE!!" Victor yelled pulling a U-turn and rushing the Chance's side. He kneeled down beside Chance and cradled him in his arms. Chance was hyperventilating and shaking, his abdomen gushing out a deep red liquid. "Blood?? What the hell happened?!" Victor said as he took his shirt off and placed it over Chance's wound. 

"What the fuck happened?!" Dextra asked as they and Vince pulled up

Then the noise of vehicles finally resonated with all of them. They looked up and about 500 feet out, almost all caught up to them was the Garrison fleet they were trying to loose. 

"H-H-How?!?!" Vince gasped as he moved his bike in front of Dextra in hopes to protect them. 

The fleet, right in front of them.

"You are all coming with us," Lieutenant Commander Iverson stood in front of them, him getting out of the brigade at some point "If you don't we'll kill you here. For all the thing's you've done, you are bound to get the death penalty anyway."

Chance convulsed in Victor's arms. His skin was getting colder by the second. 

"Will you help Chance?" Victor asked as Chance held onto Victor's hand over his wound out of fear

"He won't make it back, you know that." Iverson snarled his face in disgust

Victor shed a tear "We have to try...." 

"I'll..... I'll be fine...." Chance said, smiling off his fear, but his voice trembling along with his body

"Chance...." Hunk fell to his knees beside Chance's head with a gasp

"Hunk, I'll-- I'll b-be okay....." Chance reached up to his forehead with his non-bloodied hand "Here," He took off his headband and motioned for Hunk to take it "It's helped me to be--be br-brave, for me to f-f-f-face my fears, for me to be a-a-able to b-bear all my problems and not f-f-feel the burden. Do you know what orange standss for?" Chance hacked up blood as he questioned.

Hunk shook his head side to side, "N-No...." Hunk whimpered out

"O-Orange means enthhhhhusiasm, fascination, hap--piness, determin-n-nation, success, an-an-n-nnd encourage-ment...." Chance let out a shaking breath "Hunk, will you take care of it for me?"

"Yes!" Hunk took it, wrapping it around his forehead "I'll be enthusiastic, I'll have an undying fascination in everything I do, I'll be nothing but happy and determined, I'll sow success and I will encourage those around me--" Hunk wept, as he realized that Chance had gone limp. It clicked with him why he really didn't remember Chance, it was because of this. He knew Chance was there, he knew the sacrifice that Chance had set forth, but Chance was the least of his worries after what Victor did to him. Hunk tried to rub the tears away as the Garrison escorted them towards the base for interrogation and probably execution, but the tears just kept falling. Hunk could hardly hear Dexra's curses, Vince's swears or Victor's pleas to leave Hunk out of it..... he looked at Chance's body, and with his whole heart wished that he could've had a longer time with Chance. But he lost that chance..... he lost Chance.... 

 

Chance was **dead**. 

 

But sadly, that was only the beginning of his past. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book is going surprisingly well. I hope you guys are getting as much into the book as much as I am. Also, I wanted to mention that this is marked as Explicit due to the topic, there will be a little bit of reference to some people having sex, but it won't be intense unless all of you are okay with reading that type of material. Again, thank you for reading and I hope that you are enjoying the book.


	5. In the other's  eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Hunk out, Lance has nothing better to do then look back on their relationship. Not only that, but Lance finds out a secret that may prevent them from ever forming Voltron again.

Lance lay beside Hunk on a separate bed connected to the wall, his body cocooned in a thick blanket that Pidge had brought as a peace offering about a week ago..... a week ago.... Lance looked over to Hunk's sweating face, his quivering lip, and his crying eyes. Hunk had been in a comatose panic for about two weeks at this point. He kept repeating names of men that Lance had never heard of. 

 

On the third day that Hunk was out, he called for a man named 'Chance'. Lance had a little panic:

"Hunk, I'm right here!" He reached for Hunk's hand but once he heard a repeat of the name Lance felt broken. 

His whole body had been numb after that. Lance stared at his boyfriend wanting comfort from another man with a, somewhat, similar name. There was that name, the name that was loosely talked about at the Garrison: Victor. Lance didn't know why but he hated when what name rolled off of Hunk's trembling lips in a shaking voice that sounded pitiful and depressed. Lance placed his headphones over his ears and blasted his comforting music, a simple playlist that he made for him and Hunk a while ago, titled 'Future ♡'. He closed his eyes and put his head on the wall and lost himself thinking of how he and Hunk even became a couple in the first place.

The funny thing, that made him finally smile, was that it made a difference who you asked who started the relationship. Hunk said Lance did and Lance said Hunk did.

The truth only lies in the past. 

 

~Back at the Garrison~

The first time Lance had met Hunk was actually an unpleasant one..... for Hunk. Lance was the guns-a-blazing, don't-give-a-single-fuck, my-way-or-the-high-way personality, and when mixed with Hunk's calm and shy demeanor back in the beginning.... it was chaos. Hunk was only stuck to Lance to keep him in line, as part of a prior arrangement with the Garrison [which will be introduced later]. But it was uncanny, as they were in classes together learning the same material, Hunk grew to like Lance. In a weird way, Lance acted out Hunks thoughts. If Hunk thought of a remark to snark back to the teacher he'd keep it in his head, but Lance would shamelessly spout it out.

They were really close and Hunk thought of Lance as his best friend, he never really saw him as boyfriend material. Though Hunk never really saw himself as anything more than a wingman..... he wasn't even sure if he'd want a relationship. Lance, on the other hand, only flirted with others to try and get under Hunk's skin. He wanted nothing more than to be taken by Hunk, but Hunk was oblivious to see that. Lance had come accustomed to Hunk, and for Lance life without Hunk was a life without breathing, or without laughing. Hunk backed him up, even with his ridiculous remarks back to people, Hunk was there to have his back even though he didn't seem to have a spine of his own (back then).  

Lance decided to just stay friends, for the time being, knowing that if Hunk didn't see the signs that meant he wanted none of it. But as they began to mature out of Middle school and graduated into the Garrison High school with each other Lance could hardly take it. Their Sophomore year in High school, Lance decided to pretend to be an admirer of Hunk's and put little love letters under his door at ungodly hours of the night (sometimes getting in trouble). Hunk knew from the first letter that it was Lance, his handwriting so awful and his spelling almost as bad as an engineers' handwriting. Hunk didn't mind the notes because at first, he thought that they were a mistake, or just Lance being him and trying to ward Hunk off.

 _Hunk kept every single letter_.

After a month of receiving the letters (one week before they were going to find out who their assigned crew was going to be,) Hunk confronted Lance. 

 

Hunk stared down a box to his right as he tried to finish his Engineering math homework, he looked back to the question:

 _Question 24: Two jars of capacity 3 and 5 liters are filled with mixtures of alcohol and water. In the smaller jar 25% of the mixture is alcohol and in the larger 25% of the mixture is water. The jars are emptied into a_ 9-liter _cask and remaining volume is filled up with water. Then what_ percentage _of alcohol in the cask will be?_

Hunk snorted, knowing that the answer right away was 50%. He showed his work in code and then stashed the book away, his last problem done. 

A knock came to his door, it was Lance's signature knock: two short knocks and one loud long knock. 

"Coming!" Hunk called as he opened the door with a quiet 'Swhoowsh'

"Hey, you want to head over to dinner with me?" Lance asked

"Sure, let me grab a few things." Hunk flew back into his room, grabbing his key card to get back in as well as his Portion-Finder gadget (which scans a certain food and tells the person wearing the device how much they are allowed to have) that he had created a little while ago. He exited his room and locked it securely with his hand print as well as the key card access. 

The two then walked side by side to head into the dining room. They talked about nothing, well they talked but it was all gibberish to the normal human ear. They gossiped and gaggled about their latest test, they talked about the teachers by code name so that they couldn't get in trouble with talking about them, and they just stayed in constant conversation. Totally comfortable in one another's presence, sharing the same air as the other, sharing the same laugh, smile, and joy as the other. It was bliss.  

The two made it to the hall and scanned their cards so that they were allowed to get the food. They separated for a second as they each searched for the food that they wanted and when reconvened they kept talking as if they were never apart. Lance was talking more than Hunk, but Hunk didn't mind. He loved listening to Lance's voice by now, he even had dreams that were just Lance talking or singing.  

Hunk finished before Lance, due to him just eating as Lance talked and then when he finished that was a sign to Lance for him to start eating and let Hunk get his words in. They had just made this relationship, without either of them knowing. It just kind of happened. 

After eating the two began to head back to the dorms, curfew in two hours. They reached Hunks door, three doors before Lance's room. 

"Alright I'll see you--"

"Lance," Hunk interrupted, "Can you come in so we can talk?" Hunk scanned his hand and used his key card as Lance responded

"What's wrong? You getting lonely?" 

Hunk didn't say anything as he walked into his room and turned on the lights. _Ignore the mess_ he thought to himself without actually voicing it. 

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Lance asked a light blush on his face and his heart beating a little faster than normal (he was standing in his crushes room).

"Are you serious about..... about everything?" Hunk placed his hand on the box, looking like it was for support but unknown to Lance it had to do with the contents of the box. 

"Okay... Ummm.... you're going to have to be more specific than that, dude." Lance crossed his arms, thoroughly confused

Hunk picked up the box and opened it, revealing all the letters that Lance had ever left. Dates plastered on them and all of them in neat little piles of their own.

"I got them.... but I thought it was a mistake at first." Hunk avoided Lance's shocked expression, he missed his first flustered Lance "So I waited, but then they just kept coming...." 

"Oh. My. God. You have them all?" Lance questioned walking a little closer to Hunk

"Is...Is that bad?" Hunk asked sheepishly, thinking that Lance might say that it was a mistake and he thought this was someone else's room. 

"It's romantic as hell, Hunk." Lance said 

"You can have them back, though..." Hunk said, connecting eyes with a now almost crying Lance

"What? No, are you kidding?!" Lance took a small step back. He thought that this was going to be Hunk saying that he loved him too, he thought that Hunk was going to say something about going out to eat, or a cheesy joke about food, or something that would mean that they could be together..... but he was wrong?

"No, I'm not. I mean, I don't really see the point of having the letters if I have you."

 

 

 

Lance opened his eyes when his headphones were gently removed. He rubbed the tears away that had escaped from his eyes. Thinking back to that made him extremely happy, but also remarkably alone. Lance shook his head lightly trying to deviate from the thought path he knew he was going to venture down. He let out a breath and looked at the person holding his headphones. 

"Shiro?" Lance questioned

"Hey, I came to check up on you." Shiro dragged a chair in front of Lance, who was now a little drowsy and more so depressed with having that flashback. 

"I'm as good as I was day one, you know that." Lance said shifting his weight a little to avoid his everything feeling more paralyzed than it already does.

"R-Right..." 

Shiro had seemed off, to Lance, since day one as well. To Lance, it seemed too convenient that Shiro was the one that told everyone to take it seriously during the exercise, that it was Shiro who requested them to take a break when they couldn't form Voltron, and that it was also Shiro who found Hunk in that miserable state. Lance wanted to address Shiro about it, but he didn't want to accuse him in front of the whole team incase he wqs over reacting... now was his chance. 

"Shiro?" Lance began with a question "Can I ask you something?" 

"Of course, what is it?" Shiro's ears twitched

"Do you know who that voice was from.....? You know, before everything went wrong..." 

"Oh, you mean the voice when we tried to bond two weeks ago? The one the scared us all?" Lance shook his head up and down to that "Well I think the evidence leads to it being from Hunk like Pidge had said earlier." 

"Shiro, I think you know that's not what I'm asking," Lance said as he put his hands out for his headphones and when Shiro gave them back to Lance he placed them around his neck as he continued speaking "I'm asking..... damn it.... I'm asking if you were the one to--to take it out." Lance looked straight at Shiro who had a look of a cat who got caught with its paw in the cookie jar. "Shiro, I need to hear it from you, were you the one that forced Hunk into a panic? Are you the reason he passed out?" Lance got a little loud as he asked

"Lance..." Shiro said apologetically as he let out a sigh 

"Why? Why, Shiro?! You had no right!" 

"Lance, you must have seen his behavior. He wasn't acting himself leading up to the day, and on the day he seemed even more out of it." Shiro leaned back in the chair "I wanted to help, I wanted to see if it was something I could help with. I mean I could've if it was just simple torture..."

"What?" Lance questioned, his voice cracking

"Damn...." Shiro ran his hand through his hair as he inadvertently told Lance something he didn't want to tell him

"What did you witness, Shiro?! What did you rip out of my Boyfriends head?!"

"Lance you should ask him when he wakes up--"

" **IF** he wakes up, Shiro!" Lance gripped onto the blanket and wrapped it tighter around him, trying to prevent himself from not punching Shiro straight in the jaw. "Why did you say you didn't know? Why wait until now to tell me? If I didn't ask were you even going to tell me?!" 

"Lance, I...I didn't want you to know. I thought it best if I kept it to myself and wait for Hunk to tell us all himself."

"But what if he doesn't! What if he doesn't wake up? What if this put's him like _that_ for the rest of his life?!" Lance then gasped as if he just realized something, he covered his mouth as he continued to spew his worries "What if we have to find another Paladin for Yellow? What if we have to force his bond with Yellow to break?!" Lance was stressing himself out, he was making himself unstable with all of these 'What if's'. 

"Lance..." Shiro reached out for him, but Lance smacked it away

"No! Tell me! What did you see? What happened in the clip of my boyfriend's life that you saw?" 

"Lance, I don't think I should--"

"You shouldn't have delved into his head in the first place, Shiro!" Lance said recoiling his hand so that he could refrain from seriously injuring Shiro, which he wanted to do so bad right now "I have every right to know..... you have no rights. You are going to tell me what you saw, and you are going to tell me right now." Lance was acting overprotective, who wouldn't in this situation.

Shiro was more caught off guard that Lance was lecturing him. Shiro came here to just check up on him and Hunk, see if there was any progress, maybe try to get Lance out to the training deck and then get more than just Coran's space goo into him. He wasn't expecting Lance, of all people, to see through him and see that he had done this terrible deed.... that he had violated the Paladin code of trust. He dug into someone's brain without their okay. Shiro had dug too deep, he had wrenched in and pulled out part of Hunk in which should've stayed there. Shiro did something bad, he knew it. Shiro had lost the trust of not only Hunk, who somehow figured it out that it was him who was digging in his brain even though he did his best to hide that it was him, but he also lost the trust of Lance..... and he can only imagine what Pidge, Keith, Coran, and Allura are going to think when they find out what he has done. 

"Shiro.....?" Lance questioned, his voice a little low "Is it really _that_ bad?" 

"..." Shiro took a second, to take in the regret, to take in the pain that he has caused, to take in everything. "I saw a man I didn't know," Shiro began with a _**lie**_ , he knew the man all too well. He knew of Victor, he knew of what Victor had done, he knew of the pain and agony that Victor had dragged many to..... he just didn't know how Hunk knew Victor "He-He was the source of the voice." Shiro paused for a second and contemplated telling Lance everything that he had seen, everything he witnessed through Hunk's eyes "All I know is that Hunk went through pain daily from that man. It went on for weeks until someone found him, I think it was his mother.... but I'm not sure. It went by kind of fast."

"I can't.... I can't him imagine not telling me about this...." Lance said glancing over to Hunk "Is... Is that everything?"

Shiro paused for a moment. He thought about telling Lance the whole truth but he knew that it would destroy Lance. He knew that if Lance was broken over this little bit of information that he would be completely demolished by everything Shiro knew. But Shiro did run the thought of telling him a couple of times in his brain. He considered it. 

"Lance," He began, his voice catching itself on the way out and without another thought ended the conversation with "Yes, that's everything I know."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to see you guys so into this book! Never thought that I'd even get one comment on it! Hope you liked this chapter and the next one will be out Friday!


	6. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance can't function. He tries to go back to being a functioning Paladin of Voltron, but what happens if he unravels something else that should've been kept from him?

Lance was infuriated.

He couldn't go to anyone to vent because he didn't want anyone knowing about Shiro being the one who dug the memory out of Hunk's head, and he didn't want anyone knowing that it was from Hunks head.... everyone already suspects that it was from Hunk anyway, but he didn't want to give them concrete evidence. 

Lance paced the room. It had been only a day since Shiro had told him, and he was more pissed than he could ever be. 

1\. He didn't want to confirm that that voice was from Hunk! No one needs to go through that voice even once, let alone for his whole life (according to Shiro). 

2\. WHY SHIRO??! Shiro is supposed to be the level-headed Leader of Voltron. He's supposed to ask and receive, not assault and seize. 

3\. Lance had to go to Keith and apologize. Lance suspected that Keith was the one to wrench it out, and he actually thought that Keith was looking through Shiro's head in order to try and ruffle some of the memories from back when he was captured.

It was just a few days ago that Lance had begun to suspect Shiro. After he got his brain back for a little and he thought it was too convenient that Shiro was there. 

"STOP!!" Lance yelled at himself as he grabbed his head. He ruffled his hair and emitted a terrible smell. He hadn't gotten out of his Paladin armor in two weeks. It was starting to stink. BAD. Lance put on his helmet and called into it "Is anyone near their gear?" 

There was a short silence

"What's up?" It was Pidge

"Can you...." He paused looking at Hunk. Was he really about to abandon his comatose boyfriend?

"Lance?" Keith's voice joined in

"Can someone come watch Hunk?" He said in a low voice "It's getting stuffy and depressing in here...." Lance wasn't sure if there was silence of shock or joy on the other end

"We'll be right there," Pidge said as if all of them were in one room and were going to collectively escort him out.

Lance waited for a little bit of time for them to get to him. He knew it would take about 5 or so minutes for them to all get here. So he decided to lean next to Hunk. Lance put his face on the cold bed that Hunk was on and he looked up at Hunk's face

"I'm sorry, babe." Lance said "I'm **so** sorry. I know that you would say that this isn't my fault but it is! You were hurting and that was a first for me. I thought that you being--well--you would comfort yourself. But I guess if that doesn't work for us why would it work for you?" Lance let out a sigh as he stood and grabbed a towel to wipe Hunk's sweaty forehead down and placed a cool cloth in its stead. "I wish I was there with you, in your past. I mean, we met in sixth grade at the Garrison, but you had already been there for three years before mom decided to enroll me. I was a  _pain_ and all the teachers knew the second they looked at me..... but you, you didn't miss a beat, you made friends with me day one. You even sought me out in order to talk to me. It was awesome. Then eighth grade year, when you started to get really tall and started eating more..... I fell in love with you all over again." Lance laughed "I even told my family I'd make you my husband one day, they laughed and shrugged it off." Lance heard the door open as his train of words was cut off. 

Standing in the door was Pidge with a cart of equipment and Keith with a small smile (one barely detectable). 

"I'll watch him, and if he so much as makes one noise I'll tell you about it." Pidge set herself up spreading her array of computer equipment on the ground and planting herself there with her helmet on safely. Keith walked over to Lance and said, as-a-matter-of-factly

"I'm here to make sure you actually leave," Keith said crossing his arms. Lance laughed through his nose, a little mocking laugh. He followed Keith out and closed the door with one last look at Hunk. 

Keith made sure that Lance took care of himself. Keith acted like a makeshift, awkward-loving, trying-his-best, parent as he got Lance to take off the Paladin armor, take a well-needed shower, and get some food into his system. Keith wondered why Shiro wasn't the one to do this, but since yesterday Shiro has been a little down in the dumps. Keith didn't mind filling in, which he found odd since Lance was his self-proclaimed rival, but he was also a Paladin of Voltron who needed to be in their best shape in the case that Zarkon brings the fight to them.

 

And...... Keith needed to apologize. 

 

The two sat in the dining room, Lance at the head of the table and Keith right beside him. Keith had his helmet with him in the case that Pidge called with an update.

"After this do you want to hit the training deck?" Keith asked as Lance finished a mouthful of "gourmet" food goo. He thought it might be good to get Lance out in a small battle simulation

"What are we going to do after we hit it?" Lance lightly joked, as he slowly put another spoonful in his mouth. Keith smiled a little bit, glad that Lance was in a mood to poke out jokes. 

"You know what I meant, Lance," Keith said as he leaned on his hand and looked at Lance as he ate. Keith seemed as though he needed to tell Lance something as if he needed to come clean, but at this point, Keith didn't want to make Lance even more depressed so he decided to keep the thought to himself--for now. The two sat in silence as Lance finished eating, he was used to having Hunk there to fill in the silence with stories or something. When Lance finished the food on the plate it floated away towards the kitchen and Keith guided Lance towards the training deck. 

Keith walked beside Lance, his hand out a little almost touching Lance's back as if trying to guide him. They made it to the deck in complete silence, as if Keith were trying to make Lance comply by making him slightly uncomfortable. 

The two exercised for what seemed hours, they fought with simple wooden swords as if they were brothers out in the backyard of their house waiting for mom to come out and tell them that lunch was ready, and they better wash up before even thinking of coming to the table. Lance asked for a second to breathe, Keith thought it was nice that Lance was actually out of the room and seeing his face looking so determined was nice but he didn't' want to push him too hard. He complied. 

The two sat up against a wall beside each other as they tried to catch their breath. 

"Thank you, Keith," Lance said smiling at the ceiling

"For what?" 

"For this, for... for caring." Lance glanced over "I needed this more than I thought."

"Keith?" Pidge's voice called over the helmet, her voice a little shaky

Keith put on his helmet "Is everything alright?" 

"Just put Lance on," She said

Keith passed the helmet with a shrug of his shoulders

"This is Lance," 

"He's talking in his sleep....." Pidge said in a low hush as if to try to keep it out of Keiths ears

"He's been doing that...." Lance said, thinking about him calling out for the other men in his stead

"Okay, so it's not abnormal. Just wanted to make sure," She said letting out a sigh "Other than that, and me swapping out the cloth on his forehead a few times he seems to be okay." 

"Thanks for the update, Pidge, I really appreciate you looking after him."

"No worries, I'll buzz you if anything else happens." She said, audibly setting her helmet down. 

Lance handed back the helmet to Keith and let out a sigh as he supported his head on the wall behind him. Lance closed his eyes and welcomed in the silence for once. He was silent in both mind and body, his worries finally not flooding his mind. 

Lance looked over to Keith, his eyes slightly watering as his thoughts then came pouring back in. 

"Lance?" Keith questioned

"Keith," Lance began sniffling and grabbing his hoodie to his left "Have you ever been in love with someone so much that it hurts?" 

"No, not really." Keith said leaning forward looking at Lance "I was in the desert for a few years, remember, and before that I was too young to really think about that sort of thing." 

"But what about Shiro?" 

"Shiro? Shiro is like a big brother to me, I've never thought of him like that." Keith said smiling a little. Everyone asked him that because he was like a duckling to Shiro when he was young, so people assumed that he loved Shiro in a husband kind of way rather than the older brother kind that it actually was. "Any other questions?" Keith joked as he stood

"Actually yes," Lance said looking over to him, Keith a little taken aback that Lance didn't take it as a joke "Lately Hunk has been saying some things. I feel like I know them or like I was taught about it in the Garrison briefly but I can't put my finger on it."

"Okay?" Keith raised a brow

"Does the name, Victor, mean anything to you?" Keith stiffened at the sound of that name coming out of Lance's mouth

"Yes, I know that name...." Keith said stretching out a hand for Lance to grab "Why?" Lance complied and continued as he got up

"Hunk keeps repeating his name, along with the name Chance, Dextra, and Vince. They all sound familiar but I just can't rack my brain as to why..." 

"Lance," Keith said "You know those names because those are the names of "The G.R.G (Garrison Resistance Gang)"." Keith said, "You know at least _that_ name right?" 

"A little...." 

"Wow..." Keith mocked slightly "The G.R.G was the group of people who attacked the Garrison, stole equipment and killed many people. They were ruthless and their leader, Victor, was the worst. He was stone cold and killed anything that defied him. Shiro had a few run-in's with the leader, but that's really all I knew before the Garrison kicked me out." 

"Wait, Shiro knows Victor?" 

"Ya, you should ask him about it. He might be able to give you some insight into why Hunk was talking about them. I mean Hunk was kind of a bookworm so he could've been just reciting some material in class for all you know." 

"We'll go with that, I don't want to talk to Shiro right now...." Lance said running his hand through his hair and stretching

"Why not?" 

"We got into a little bit of a..... fight," Lance said noticeably wanting to drop the topic

Keith cleared his throat at the tangibility of the awkward atmosphere around them "Want to go round two?" Keith waved his sword around 

Lance noticed that Keith was trying and smiled "Bring it on, Mullet!" 

 

 

Outside, the training deck stood Shiro. His back against the wall beside the doors. He knew that he shouldn't be there, but hearing Lance's voice outside of the med-bay worried him for a second until he heard Pidge phone them a status report on Hunk (Having his helmet with him he heard everything). He wanted to confront Lance, but he knew that Lance didn't want to see him, even though he felt like he needed to.

Shiro had come back to the training deck several times due to this being the place where _he_ completely messed up. He thought for some reason that if he came back then he could fix _his_ troubles. He always found  _him_ venting _his_ worries here anyway, but he wanted to fix what happened then, and maybe he could try to heal the wound over now. Without thinking rationally, Shiro headed towards the med-bay, appearing to be hell bent on a mission. 

 

 

Pidge sat in the corner, a little overwhelmed with how bad Hunk actually was. She thought to herself that she'd be able to work because Hunk wouldn't be that bad off, but Hunk whimpered and called out in mumbles for names or places. His thoughts were scattered and hers were getting there. Pidge had her headphones around her neck so that she could still hear the hum of her computer's calculations but also in the case that Hunk were to say anything of value she was ears open with a pen and paper. Unexpectedly, to her, the med-bay doors opened and Shiro walked in.   

Unexpectedly, to her, the med-bay doors opened and Shiro walked in.   

"Hey, Shiro." She greeted but Shiro didn't answer. So with nothing from Shiro who just walked up to Hunk, Pidge turned on her helmet (as a precaution) and set on the one-way frequency so that if the other two were to yell at her she (and Shiro) wouldn't be able to hear it. "What are you doing here, Shiro? I thought you and Allura had a date planned or something."   

"Pidge," Shiro didn't look at her he just stared at Hunk "I've done something bad and the only person we all go to for our problems is resting...."   

"I know, it can be hard, but maybe this is a good thing-- in its own, extremely, twisted way."   

"What do you mean?" Shiro questioned finally looking at her

"Well, this gives us the opportunity to rely on each other more."  

"That's true," Shiro said in a sluggish tone

The med-bay doors opened again, but this time slightly forced

"NO!" Lance yelled "You," He pointed to Shiro "get out!" 

"Lance calm down!" Keith said, getting between Lance and Shiro. 

"No, I won't calm down, Keith!!" Lance said, his arms flailing and somewhat glad to not have the clank of armor restricting them "He is not welcome here!" Lance's nostrils were flaring by now he was so pissed. Shiro used an opportunity when Lance wasn't there to go see Hunk, to go see if he could get more information out of him, for all Lance knew. 

"What's going on?" Pidge questioned in a quiet tone

"I don't want the man responsible for Hunk being out, to be in here right now!" Lance yelled. A split second after, his face matched Keiths and Pidges. Lance covered his mouth with both hands "Damn it...."

"What?" Keith questioned slowly turning to Shiro

"Shiro, what is he talking about?" Pidge questioned standing

"He's the one..." Lance said, swallowing back his sadness for a brief second "He's the one that went digging in Hunks mind. He pulled out that damned voice from Hunk...."

Lance was so livid at this point all his reasoning went out the window. He wanted to keep this from them, but the fact that Shiro went behind his back to see Hunk hurt him more than the initial act (by a small margin). 

"I want you out, Shiro! I'm still pissed and I--!!"

"Lance, stop yelling." Keith said in a low tone, he then turned to Lance and with a stoic face Keith said "The person who dug into Hunk's mind was actually me, not Shiro." 

"What are you talking about?!" Lance panicked, he could feel his heart contracting. His whole team was against him. His whole team couldn't be _trusted_. 

"I knew something was wrong with Hunk, I can't really explain it because I suck at reading people. He just seemed off. So I decided to dig, though trust me when I say I didn't expect to drag that voice out of him." Keith looked to the floor, he couldn't stand Lance's face, he couldn't face the fact that he was the reason that Lance was in distraught "I got so worked up after Hunk was out, I blamed myself so I confided in Shiro, spilling my worries out..... I just didn't think he'd make you think it was him..."

"No, you're lying...." Lance began to cry "We.... Today we bonded.... we bonded like brothers, and then.... and then you go and tell me this bull..." Lance's voice was weak. Shaking in and out of vocal ranges. He grabbed his shirt in pain "I can't.... It hurts too much.... I can't breathe... Pidge watch Hunk..." Lance spouted out really fast as he ran out of the med-bay. 

Lance ran. He ran without anyone running after him. He ran to someone who he knew he'd be able to find comfort in. He ran to the single person who had yet to crush his trust to dust. He ran to her comforting words, her calming voice, her soothing purr. He ran to Blue. He ran to the only one in Voltron he could trust. She accepted his weeping, weak, body without hesitation and as he curled in the pilot seat she purred in comfort. She did her best to lull her little Paladin's worries out. Blue did all she could to make Lance comfortable. 

Lance cried his everything out. Lance sobbed in Blue's soundproof head. Lance wept himself numb. Lance screamed out the pain, though it didn't go away that easily.

 

_Why does it hurt so much? Why does it hurt my heart? I've never felt this amount of betrayal in my life.... Why can't they tell me what happened? Was it really Keith? Or is he covering for Pidge? What the hell is up with them? Why is this happening? Why are we falling apart?  When Hunk wakes up how are we ever going to form Voltron? What if he doesn't wake up? What if the next thing to happen is Allura telling me we have to go find another paladin for Yellow?!! What if I have to sever his sacred bond? Is that even possible to do? I need Hunk!! I need to tell him all my worries, I need to vent to him, I need him to pet my hair as we cuddle and he tells me that I've overreacting! I need my rock and my hope, my peace and my stability......I need Hunk. I need him. Want is out of the question, it hurts to breathe without him, it hurts to laugh without him, it hurts to function without him._

_What am I going to do? A life without Hunk...... isn't worth living._


	7. Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How far is the Garrison willing to push in order to make sure that this is where it all ends? What's going to happen to Hunk?

Without any words, the Garrison stuffed Hunk into a vehicle that was small and cramped. Hunk didn't say a word, his mind blank and devastated. He stared at the chair in front of him as the driver and other passengers said nothing to him. He was not cuffed because the soldiers made sure he knew that they thought he posed no threat to them.

Hunk knew what was going to happen at the Garrison, he knew what he'd be forced to do when he got there. He knows that he'll be forced into a corner and will have to comply in order to go free. Hunk feared that because this was a dream, and dreams tend to go overboard, that everything will be amplified. He looked down to his fingers that were playing with the tail to his new headband. Hunk let out a small sigh, his heart racing. No matter what he did he could never forget how this went down, every time he was sent to the principal's office in Lance's stead he was reminded of the agreement and essentially the event. Lance never got in trouble, because Hunk was the one that took the fall, it was part of the deal.

Hunk looked up to the man beside him in the cramped vehicle, his face stern and looked like he had a few years in the Garrison. 

The vehicle started to slow down,

_I am not ready for this..... I don't want to do this...._

The vehicle came to a complete stop, and without regard to him they yanked him out of his seat and violently tossed him out of the car. 

"Hunk!!" He heard Victor call for him. Hunk looked at the ground that he was on, it was the same that Chance was on right now. Hunk glanced up to Victor who seemed to be devising a plan to get them out of here. "The kid has nothing to do with this!" Vince yelled struggling against the four large men containing him

The man who threw Hunk out of the vehicle walked up to him and placed his boot on Hunk's stomach, lightly "You'll want to watch your tone with me, children." The man seemed to be threatening them 

"You wouldn't dare!" Victor said "He's just a kid--"

"And so are you,Victor." The man said, pressing his boot down on Hunk a little, enough to make Hunk flinch and let out a little gasp "Do you want to test your theory? That I wouldn't dare?"

Victor bit his tongue and glared down the man, the man who dared touch his little brother. 

"Get up, child," The man said as he pulled Hunk up by his hair, making Hunk call out in a scream

"Stop it!" Victor lunged towards the man but was stopped by his handlers who forced him to stay in place

"Victor!!" Hunk called out his voice in a high pitched panic and tears rolled down his cheek "Yellow!! Yellow is my favorite color!" 

To everyone around it seemed like the most random observation. The worst last words to tell the other. But to Victor.... he couldn't have asked for more. Yellow was their thing, their symbol, their tie to each other. Yellow may be symbolized with being a coward, but it's most known for being a primary color. An important part of the color wheel. An essential part in every color in the world. So when Hunk yelled that to Victor, that meant that no matter what happened here, no matter what the Garrison could do to Hunk, no matter what they told Hunk about his brother, Victor was a primary part of his life. 

No one knew how to react to it, Victor shifted and stood up straight. He smiled and said, "I love the color Yellow, too." 

Thinking that it was some sort of code, which it was, the man then dragged Hunk away and Victor, Dextra, and Vince were escorted to a different part of the building. 

 

* * *

 

Hunk sat, shaking. His feet not long enough to touch the floor of the Garrison interrogation room. He ran his hands through his hair gently to make sure he wasn't bleeding and when confirmed he placed them on the edges of the chair. Hunk closed his eyes, knowing full well what was going to go down here, and he didn't want to have to look at Iverson and comply. 

He was afraid of Iverson (at this point in time and in the present). Every time Iverson talked to him he always had **that** tone in his voice as if he thought him no better than his brother. Iverson hardly looked him in the eyes. 

Hunk remembered the day when they failed the simulation yet again and people mocked him for throwing up in the main gear box, Iverson spewed out a 'subtle' hint of Hunks past as he too mocked him. Iverson always mocked him.....

 

The door opened, Iverson walking in with two people on either side of him. He sat at the table and opened a folder,

"Do you know why you are here?" 

Hunk let out a sigh, he knew exactly why he was here. They were going to make a deal with him, in order for his brother to go free. At this age he knew not of the actual cost that it would entail, but in the same view because of this deal he got to meet Lance, he got to find Yellow, he got to bask in the glory of the Castle of Lions....

Hunk stayed silent however, he didn't want to tell Iverson that he knew, that he understood. That he was ready. So he did exactly what he did that day and kept his gaze on his legs that began to swing slowly. 

"Sir, he's just a child...." One of the men bent and whispered mockingly.

"His age has nothing to do with it, he's the brother of _Victor_." Iverson said swatting the man away "I'll ask again, _boy_ ," Iverson said through his teeth "Do you know why you are here?"

"..." Hunk didn't say anything, he did look up to Iverson though. He tried to tell Iverson with his eyes that he didn't care. He wanted to be taken back to Chance, he wanted to tell Chance that he wished that he was there longer, that he didn't need to have this headband..... Hunk began to fidget with the headband. Chance's smell was very strong on it, unlike in his time where his own smell had taken over. 

Iverson let out a sigh "You are here to negotiate. Your brother is going to be told that you are being beaten and tortured in order for him to cave in. You, on the other hand, are here to make a deal, so that we can confirm that this 'resistance' ends with those three." Hunk stayed silent, knowing not to say anything "Boy, listen" Iverson continued "If you swear yourself to the Garrison and elitist as either an engineer, pilot, or technician, we will allow Victor to go free. We will ignore all of his past mistakes and keep a sharp eye on him, but you have to stay here. You have to go through special classes in order to become everything your brother is not. If you agree, on your eighth birthday you will belong to the Garrison."

"Why are you going to ignore everything he has done?" Hunk questioned under his breath

"Victor is strong, he is a working class citizen and is necessary. He will not be punished, but the other three-- sorry, the other two, will be punished in his stead of he admits to everything. We both know that Victor was just the muscle of the operation, the others were the brains behind it." Iverson folded his hands together and placed them on the table in front of him as he leaned forward towards Hunk "If you swear, by the Garrison oath, that you will never become your brother, that you will do exactly what we say when we say it, that you will never leave unaccompanied by at least one other person, you and your brother can go home tonight."

Hunk already knew what he was going to say. But it was still a hard decision back then to tell Iverson that he wanted nothing more than his brother's safety. If Hunk had said no back then, Iverson would've left and allowed the officers in the room to beat him half to death and use that as leverage to get Victor to confess, and if Hunk said no to the deal his brother and he would be put on wooden planks and planted outside with Dextra and Vince in front of the firing squad. Hunk had that burden to bear. It would be his fault, or thanks to him, whether or not he and Vince came out of this _alive_. 

 

**_It was up to a 7-year-old._ **

 

"What do you say?"

"...." Hunk knew what he said in the past, Hunk wanted nothing more than to protect his brother "I want to see Victor...." Hunk said, quoting what he had said in the past

"Oh, do you?" 

"I want to make sure it's okay with him....." Hunk said

"Oh, alright" Iverson smirked, "Excuse me for a few minutes while I make sure that's okay with the Commander." He left, two more men entering the room and closing the door behind them

Hunk let out a breath. 

Victor thought Hunk was being tortured, beat up, and toyed with. So in order for him to go see his brother he had to look the part. He had to be beaten, tortured, and toyed with. He had to be scared and tampered with. 

The four men walked up to him, and with one swift move, Hunks hands were cuffed behind him. Hunk was so scared, he definitely didn't want to relive this part of his past. This part in which four men beat, bruised, tortured, broke, molested, and terrified him. Four men forced themselves on him, forced Hunk to call out and cry, forced Hunk to want nothing more than to wake up. 

"Alright, I think that's enough." one of the men stood, his breath heavy as if he was working hard to hurt Hunk. 

"You sure?" One of the other men demonically snarled as he kicked Hunk in the chest knocking the wind out of him

"Ya," the man smiled down at Hunk as if they had done a good job. 

_I want to go home....._

Hunk couldn't feel anything, he knew that he had at least one broken rib, cuts almost everywhere, and bruises painting his body. His body was numb, so much so that they had to drag him to go see Victor. They grabbed him by his hair and began to pull him. Hunk let out a voiceless scream, his voice gone from all the screaming from before. He struggled hard against the hand not wanting Victor to see him like this because this is what makes Victor **break**. They walked down the hallway parading him around before they turned to Victor's door. 

"Victor you have a visitor," a man ahead of Hunk and the man dragging him laughed as he said that to Victor

"A visitor?" Victor questioned

They threw Hunk in. His hands still cuffed behind him so he thrashed on his side. His broused shoulder cracking slightly as if hit the ground. Victor and Hunk connected eyes, Hunk wheezed, breathing alone painful enough to make him pass out. 

"Hunk?!?!!?" Victor questioned struggling with his own chains "Oh my god, Hunk!!" Victor began to cry

"I still.... I still love yellow..." Hunk said trying to smile at Victor, but at the same time reminding his present self that Yellow wasn't ruined for him because of this. 

"You bastards!! He's a kid!" Victor stood trying to break his chains, but just lightly cutting his wrists instead

"Boy, tell him the deal~" the man who dragged Hunk here lightly kicked Hunks back as if to persuade him

"Deal? Deal?! What deal?" 

"Victor," Hunk said, his voice hoarse from screaming so much "they want me to enroll..... here. And become a Garrison cadet."

"What, no! You don't need that--!" They were both startled by the sound of several guns going off at once

"Would you rather join the other two outside?" The men mocked smiles not leaving their faces

"so that's where you took them...." Victor gasped as his knees gave out on him and he fell back to his seat

"If I say yes...." Hunk continued "We can go home." 

"Go home?" Victor questioned "Hunk, do you really want to be like our father that much that you are willing to give up everything, just to go home? You're willing to.... you're willing to forget that they are the ones that killed him? What if they kill you too? What if--!" 

"Dad loved us...." Hunk interrupted "he did what he had to in order to protect us." Hunk coughed up a little blood "My whole life you have been the one protecting me..... now it's my turn, Victor..." 

"No! Hunk I won't let you sign away your life to the Garrison!! Iverson will kill you! He'll shoot you out into space and we'll never hear from you again!"

"So you rather.... us die, right here, right now and leave mom behind, all alone?" Hunk asked closing his eyes for a second too long for comfort

"I rather...." Victor stopped his words "I rather them not force you to have to make a decision like this.... I don't understand why they won't let me atone for what I've done. They make no sense! I don't understand why they are letting me live when it was me all along.... I dragged the others into it.... and yet--" Victor said choking on his words his eyes defeated and emotionless "When I confessed they took Dextra and Vince away..... they killed Chance because of me too..... and just look at you," Victor put his forehead on the table "I'm so sorry Hunk." 

"It's okay, we'll be going home soon anyway because I accept the deal." Hunk said trying to shift himself to look at the men behind him

"When we get home, I'll fix up your wounds."

"I know you will..."

The men unlocked Hunk's cuffs and uncuffed Victor as well. They were ready for a brawl with Victor, but he silently went over to Hunk and picked him up as if he were a small child. As if he were his. As if Hunk only belonged to Victor. When Victor's hands coddled Hunk, Hunk felt safe. 

He felt safe, secure, and happy. He felt relieved that he got to relive this side of his brother. He felt joy that his brother once cared this much for him. He forgot all of this.... He was so happy. Hunk was so relieved he was smiling..... so elated even though he knew that would all be shattered the second they got home. 


	8. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Hunk are heading home, but Victor decides to take a pit stop at Chance's house. Chance's house, where Hunk's past meets it's climax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is Explicit (upon request of my close friends)! This chapter dives into the Adult X minor part of the story, please read at your own wish.

Before the Garrison allowed Victor off scot-free, they clamped a watch onto his wrist, a watch that was also a tracker and would tell the Garrison his exact whereabouts. They also reminded Hunk that he was due back on his 8th birthday, or else. After that, they watched Victor carry Hunk to his bike. Victor didn't look back, his eyes dull and depressed, he looked like a broken soldier, like a man with no more purpose. Like..... Like how Hunk is going to look in a few hours. 

Victor held onto Hunk as he slowly drove his bike, going the same direction they always did. Whether it was out of habit, or curiosity Hunk never knew. They kept going. After a little, they passed Chance. Chance whose body looked fragile and his face which looked betrayed as it looked up to the heavens. Victor's grip grew a little stronger on Hunk as they flew by Chance without so much as a single word. But Victor couldn't hold back the tears. The only people that ever gave him the time of day after his father died were those three and Hunk. And now everyone he knows (other than Hunk) is dead because of him. He didn't even bother to wipe the tears away as he drove on and on. 

 

"I.." Victor spoke, miles from their home "I don't want mom seeing you like this...... so we'll just stop at Chance's house for a while. I'll explain it to her later." Victor didn't look away from the road, as he spoke and without an 'A-ok' from Hunk he just kept talking. 

Hunk wished he could move, he wished he could do something--anything! But the pain Hunk currently is in, is preventing him from really doing anything. The Garrison did a good number on him. 

 

Victor parked his bike in front of Chance's house. He was pissed, confused and shaken. He shut his bike off and carefully carried Hunk to the house, Victor opened the unlocked door with a laugh from his nose and closed it behind him (locking it this time). Victor slowly carried Hunk through the double wide, to one of the two bedrooms. Hunk had seen Chance's home once before when he spent the night over with Chance exchanging science banter and creating gadgets. 

Victor placed Hunk on the bed. 

"I need to address your wounds, can I take your shirt off?" Victor asked, not wanting to do something that would make Hunk hate him. Hunk didn't say anything. He just breathed and looked at Victor, it was as if his vocals were shot and unusable. Victor took this as a yes as took Hunk's shirt off slowly. He stared down at Hunk, terrified and shocked at what _they_ did to him "Good thing these are shallow..." Victor swallowed the bubble in his throat "they should heal without any scars." Victor just took in the sight of Hunk. The pitiful, unsightly, vision that is now reduced to be his brother "I'm going to go grab medicine and stuff from the bathroom...." Victor got up and left the room. 

 

Hunk closed his eyes. He knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before this turned to hell. He knew that Victor would invade his privates without consent. He didn't want to relive that, he wanted to wake up and see Lance. He wanted to do anything but what was about to happen. Hunk tried to vision waking up, he tried to force his eyes shut and flash them open in an attempt to get his other self to wake up. To wake up. WAKE UP!! 

But his attempts had no effect. He was still there. Still cursed. Still alone. Still without Lance.

 

Victor returned with a Medical Kit and some extra stuff in his hands, he placed everything beside the bed as he got down on his knees and started addressing Hunks wounds. Hunk gasped and winced at the stinging, he gripped the sheets and tried to be brave. He looked at his brother, the gaze of a man trying. Trying..... trying to hold back. 

 

"Hunk, I'm so sorry..." Victor said as he wrapped Hunk's chest with a large Ace bandage. 

"Victor, it's fine really." Hunk said trying to smile "At least we are both alive, right? At least I still have you." 

 

_There is a saying that goes: "And that was the straw that broke the Camels back."  That's very relevant to this situation...._

 

Hunk saw his brothers tears dry up in a split second, as a glaze of impure intentions washed over Victor's eyes blinding him. 

"Victor?" Hunk questioned in fear, really hoping that he would wake up this instance. Knowing that gaze all too well. 

"I have you.... You are the only one left that will love me..." Victor grabbed Hunks weak hands and pinned them above his head as Victor climbed on top of Hunk. "You are the only one....." 

"Victor please..... don't...." Hunk began to tear up, knowing full well that his dream wasn't going to stop any time soon. He begged more at the dream, at his mind, to not have to put him through  _this_ again. He begged and pleaded hoping that his mind would have as much sympathy on him as it did on everyone else. But..... his mind was not so kind.

"I can't let the Garrison take you.... I can't let them." Victor began to take Hunks pants off with his free hand, his eyes not leaving Hunks. 

"Victor, you don't have to do this! Please!!" Hunk was engrossed into this, all his sense and knowledge out the window "Victor!!" Hunk really didn't want this. He REALLY didn't want to relive this so vividly. His past dreams were intense, but they never built up to the moment, they never made him forget what Victor did until it just happens. His mind's reenactment of the event never made him miss his brother as much as this dream did. He wanted to hold on to the good memories. He wanted to hold on to all the good that happened between him and Victor.... Victor, the boy who stood up and became a man. The man who took his father's place in protecting the family. Broke. Victor lost everything. But he never once considered how everything he lost effected his younger brother, who went through it all with him-- and so much more.

"Oh come now, Hunk," Victor said, as he removed Hunk's underwear "Don't try and tell me that you haven't imagined this~" Victor was lost. He was gone. This was the man that ruined everything. This was Victor possessed by pure depression and agony. He needed a way out and his only way out seemed to be Hunk. 

"This is--!!" Hunk tried to struggle but he was securely pinned underneath Victor

Victor chuckled as he began to use his tongue in places that made Hunk want to vomit, his stomach churn, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his voice echo throughout the room.

Hunk called out for Victor to stop several times but his cries went unheard. His cries went unwanted. His cries went. He went.... he wanted to go. 

 

"Vic!" Hunk widened his eyes, a small sound emitting from Hunk's throat that was different from the pleas from earlier. It was more feminine and more generated towards that back of his throat. 

"Good boy, you can be louder if you want," Victor said as he slowly destroyed Hunk's trust moving in, his hands slowly thrusting it's way closer to Hunk. 

"Victor, I don't want this. I don't like it....." Hunk struggled against Victor, "It feels weird." Hunk began to feel his stomach filling slowly with a small object, similar to....  _it_.

"It'll feel good soon, _**trust me**_ ," Victor said, ignoring Hunks small pleas for him to stop

"Seriously Victor, can you stop. I don't like this. I want you to take it out!" 

"Hunk, _**trust me**_ , ok? WE have to get you well prepared before I can just go in."

"I feel sick. I don't like this." Hunk tried to struggle again, trying to move. His body was in so much pain from the beating that he couldn't really do anything without being in an absurd amount of pain. If the Garrison had no used him as a tactic.... he could've escaped. Hunk could've avoided this. He could've been normal. 

"It will feel better soon, just breathe," 

"I.... stop, please." Hunk slowly cried "Victor, I don't want this..." Hunk watched as Victor stopped for a second, he thought (for some reason) that he was done and he couldn't be happier. But in the back of his mind he knew, that this wasn't the end. He knew that Victor was getting ready for  _it._

"I can't wait anymore. It's going to hurt... probably a lot... but it should feel better after a few _thrusts_." Hunk was confused as Victor talked in a whisper, this part almost always escaping his ears. Victor unzipped his pants and fished out his organ. Hunk's eye widened at the girth and length of his brother. 

"No. Victor, don't!!" Hunk called out as he struggled, trying to kick Victor but Victor was numb to them as if Hunk's violence were but an army of feathers. 

"Shh, it will be okay. Hunk, I love you" Victor licked his lips as he captivated Hunks'. Hunk's little lips were engulfed by Victor's. He ran his hand through Hunk's hair and began to push into Hunk. Slowly crushing everything that Hunk was. Slowly making Hunk wish he were dead. Slowly making Hunk remember the pain. Slowly invading "Damn... you're really tight...." Victor said as he pressed his forehead against Hunks. The head of his organ just entering. 

"It hurts, Victor, take it out. Please." Hunk began to truly cry because of the pain "Please.... It hurts!! I don't like this feeling, it feels  _gross_." Victor snapped at that comment. 

"Gross?" His face hung low, his eyes growing dark "You think I'm gross? You think I'm the gross one?" Victor slapped Hunk across the face hard and grabbed his chin, squeezing it between his fingers and his thumb "Look at you, that lewd face, you're the gross one. Tempting me every day with that hungry look, with that passion flowing through your words." Victor forcibly thrusted the rest of himself inside of Hunk, the resistance intense but Victor ignored the resistance and continued on ripping Hunk, making blood seep into the sheets below.

"No!" Hunk cried in a whisper, the tears not stopping. Tears overflowing. Tears clouding his eyes. Tears not stopping his brother. Tears not halting the pain. Tears..... tears that only made him more emotional. Useless, just like him. 

"You're the one who's gross, who's _worthless_. You're just like a woman, you're a bitch. This is your worth" Victor removed his hand that had a bruising grasp on Hunk's wrist and moved it to Hunks small hips, along with his other hand and gripped them with unbridled anger as he then began to thrust in, using the blood as a sort of make-shift lubricant. 

"It hurts, Victor..... stop..... please....." Hunk said, between the strange noises that his throat would emit. The noises that only edged Victor on. 

"Look," Victor palmed Hunk's own organ, which was upright and oozing "You're body know's what it want's, just admit that you've wanted this. You _like_ this," Victor smirked

"N-No... it's a..... norMMal..... re-ACK-tion" Hunk tried to fight it, tried to fight the moans seeping out of his throat. He tried to stop his body from apparently inviting Victor in. He tried to stop. Stop it in general.

"You think this is normal?" Victor grunted as he thrusted hard into Hunk "Two brother's sharing a moment like this, in a place like this. Hunk, this is anything but normal." Victor smiled "You are so _worthless_ , no one will want you after this."

Hunk panted, his body starting to shake and tremble, a build up of something condensing close to his bladder. 

"You're tightening around me, you close?" Victor laughed through his nose, "Who's the one who doesn't _like_ it?" Victor grunted as he thrusted again and again.

Hunk felt dead, he felt empty. He never thought his brother would do this, he never imagined his brother to have this side to him. It was just a few minutes ago that Victor was showing he cared, showing that he loved him, showing that he didn't want to hurt Hunk.....Where did his brother go?

Tears kept streaming from his eyes, spilling in every direction. He wanted this dream over, he wanted this pain inside him to cease, he wanted everything to stop. 

"I want to wake up..." Hunk whimpered, making Victor stop thrusting

"Wake up? This isn't some dream where you can just pinch yourself and wake up."

"I want to be back with Lance." Hunk continued, ignoring Victor

"What?" 

"I want to be in the arms of the man that I love. I want to hear the voices of the people I treasure!" Hunk looked Victor in the eyes "I'm done with this dream, I'm done with this pain, I'm done holding back. I want to go back home, home to the Castle of Lions, home to Lance's arms, home where the people I love and the people I trust are. I am finished with this!!" 

"That's a sad story, Hunk." Victor snarled "This isn't a simple dream where you can wake up. This is real. You are here. Grow up."

 

 

Hunk had lost count of how many times Victor had released _it_ inside of him. Hunk had lost count of how many days had passed. Hunk had lost. 

He thought he'd start to believe in this dream if Victor kept going, he almost lost himself once already because of the intense panic that his body was in from the beginning, but when he thought of Lance he came to his senses. Lance helped. Even thought Lance wasn't here in person just thinking back to the Castle of Lions, to the embarrassing moment when the team found out that the two shared a room. Thinking back when Allura first asked why they flirted with each other (because on Altea it was unheard of for two men to be in love). He thought back to everything. But with Victor here, he was beginning to wonder which one was a dream and which one was reality. 

 

Hunk was chained to the ceiling, his feet on the tippy-toes so that he wasn't quite dangling, but his hands had already gone numb quite a while ago. His legs shook to try and keeping his balance so that he didn't sway back and forth making the rope above squeak and sound off at every movement. His face was blindfolded and his mouth gagged. Victor had left Hunk there--like that--as he went off to work. He said that he didn't care who walked in or who found him. Hunk's first was his, and that's **all** that mattered. 

 

Hunk heard the front door shut loudly. 

"Hunk, I'm back~," Victor's voice echoed through the house. 

 

Hunk wanted this over. 

Hunk wanted out. 

Hunk wanted Lance. 

Hunk wanted freedom. 

Hunk wanted the pain to stop. 

Hunk wanted to be with Yellow. 

Hunk wanted Lance!

Hunk wanted to see. 

Hunk wanted to wake up. 

Hunk wanted Lance!!

Hunk wanted nothing more than to hear Lance's laughs. 

Hunk wanted nothing more than to see Lance's face.

Hunk wanted nothing more than Lance. 

Hunk wanted Lance!!!

Hunk wanted....

 

"Oh, looks like you're all ready for me." He heard the whisper shockingly close to his ear, he tried to pull away as Victor untied the gag

"Please, not again Victor....." 

"What does it matter to you, Hunk? You're _worthless_ now, no one will want you."

"Please don't say that...." Hunk whimpered as he felt Victor's hands at his hips

"It's true, though, why would a woman lay down with you? Or even a man?" Victor snapped open a bottle of some sort and without so much as a 'how-do-you-do', he plunged himself into Hunk sending a sharp pain through Hunk's system and forcing out a loud gasp from him "See? Your body is already so accustomed to laying with me. You're completely _worthless_ to anyone."

Hunk didn't scream again, he knew that Victor wouldn't listen. He knew that his cries fell empty to Victor's ears. 

"You will only be mine. From now on, you will only be mine, no one can take you away. I won't let the Garrison take you away." Victor began to move faster

Hunk decided against all odds to call out one more time, to try and jostle this dream:

"STOP!!" 

 

 

 

 

Hunk's body convulsed and he slammed himself forward.

 

 

Forward? FORWARD?!

There was a fast beeping behind him, matching that of his heart beat which he could feel in his head. He looked down, and saw his hands. HIS HANDS! 

"What?!" He whispered, tears falling out of his eyes without warning. But they were tears of joy now!

Hunk smiled a lot.

He was out.  

He was done.  

He was back.  

He's here!

He's home!!

He looked around him, machines and things he had never seen in the Castle of Lions before, he panicked a little until the door in front of him opened. Revealing someone whom he had needed to see for so long.

The door 'whooshed' open revealing the man that Hunk had called for, the man that he desired, the man that calmed him down, the man that knew nothing of his past, the man he cared about, the man he loved. That man that kept him sane and kept him true to himself. The man he fell in love with. The man he knows he can be himself around. The man that he's going to tell everything to. HIS man!

His voice was talking as he walked into the strange room that Hunk sat in "Ya and then I said--"

"LANCE!!"


	9. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk saw him. Hunk finally saw him. Hunk finally get's to hug and hold him. But is this truly his Lance?

"LANCE!!" 

There was a long silence as Hunk stared at his man staring back at him. Hunk let go and cried at the sight of Lance's blue eyes, he laughed at this sight of his boyfriend lost for words, his boyfriend appearing to be all grown up, at least emotionally. Lance dropped his smile as he looked and matched Hunks teary eyes.

"Hunk?! ¡Qué coño!" Lance exclaim as he rushed to Hunk's side and enveloped him in a deep kiss. Lance held Hunks face as if to not let him go (not that Hunk would've). There was no breathing as Hunk grabbed Lance's back and pulled their bodies closer together. They separated for a second "HUNK!!?!" Lance choked on his own words as he pulled Hunk into another kiss. Lance began to cry and breath heavily into the kiss. Their lips left each other as Lance enveloped Hunk into a tight hug, still not believing that Hunk was here, that he was okay, that he was safe. "I missed you so much!!" 

"You have no idea" Hunk giggled as Lance showered him with kisses 

"What's going on??" Hunk heard a call from Pidge, her voice a little scared and off put. Lance lifted his hand to his ear and placed it over it as if there were a Bluetooth inside 

"Sorry, Pidge!" Lance smiled at Hunk and kissed him on his nose "I'll have to continue it later."

"What?" Shiro's voice joined in "I was just getting into that story..."

"What story?" Hunk questioned

"IS THAT HUNK?!?!" PIDGE exclaimed

"LANCE!! ANSWER PIDGE!!" Shiro demanded

Hunk took the ear piece from Lance "This is Yellow, checking on teams Black, Green, and Red. Is everyone ready to kick some alien butt??" Hunk mocked as he mimicked a story he told to them on one of the first nights they all shared here (they were all afraid so Hunk decided to have a sleepover in the training deck room, they all laid in a circle telling stories. Hunk didn't want to tell the story of his past, so he told a fictional story. A Fictional story about five garrison commanders in a war against aliens.)

There was a silence of shock accompanied by gasps. 

"Oh, but don't come" Lance took back the ear piece

"What? Why?" Keith questioned a little hostile

Lance ignored Keith's question and tossed the ear piece to the corner of the room as he then returned his attention to Hunk. He embraced Hunk, crying and laughing as he held on tightly. 

"I missed you so much.... you big lug..." Lance whimpered "I can't believe.... you're awake!!" He laughed he rubbed his hands on Hunks cheeks and laughed "love this stubble-beard thing you've got going on~"

"I missed you too, Lance." Hunk ignored the feeling of Lance's hand through his facial hair, it was a curse that he grew facial hair in the first place, unlike Keith.

"Hunk!" Lance shivered in his grasp at the sound of his name rolling off the tongue of his man "Okay. Okaay. Oh-kay." Lance separated from Hunk "before we get all mushy and gushy.... you might want to get dressed....." Lance turned, his face blushing from realizing that he was embracing his man.... his **naked** man. 

Hunk looked down, "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy am I naked???" Hunk's face matched Lance's as they both blushed

"Allura and Coran needed to put sensors on you.... let... I'm.... I'll just.... hold on." Lance couldn't form an actual sentence so he motioned that he was going to go grab clothes for Hunk. 

Hunk covered himself with the blanket and took all the suction cup-like sensors off his body. He removed one that was on his forehead and he just left his hand there. He suddenly saw Chance's face in his head, the soulless eyes, the trying smile, the knowledge that all chances of leaving were out the window. Hunk let out a sigh as he realized that he didn't care about Lance bringing clothes... he could be stark naked and not care, he just really needed that headband back. 

Lance entered the room with a tail of loud banter. But Lance locked the door before any of the other voices could enter. 

"They sound mad..." Hunk said under his breath

"More so at me than you, trust me," Lance said with a laugh. He handed Hunk the clothes and kissed his forehead. "OH!!" Lance said pulling his sleeve up a little revealing the orange headband.

"Oh so that's where it was~" Hunk laughed as Lance tied it around Hunk's head, and let it slide down onto his shoulders.

"W-W-Why don't you get dressed??" Lance walked to the corner and put his hands over his blushing face 

Hunk got dressed extremely fast--for him. He watched Lance not looking at him. Hunk noticed that Lance's shoulders had grown broad, that his arms and legs more defined. Lance had grown. Lance had seemed to move on pretty well, but just how long has Hunk been out? How long had he been gone for Lance to look like this? 

Hunk shook his head, as he prevented himself from falling down a path of despair when his man was right there. 

The room was silent as Hunk's clothes were the only thing making noise and with him not being connected the receivers it was even more eerily silent. Hunk decided to look up to the screen which had his heart rate, blood pressure, and a bunch of other gauges displayed, but the thing that made him almost fall was the number of days counted on it.

 

_76?!?!_

 

_76 days?!?! I've been but for 76 days?!?! That's two and a half months!! What have they been doing for 76 days? It's not like Zarkon would've stopped just because a Paladin was down if anything he would've channeled his attack here if he knew. So....what's been going on?? What.... what happened while I was out?!_

 

"You know what Hunk?" Lance interrupted Hunks panic "For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why your headband was Orange and not yellow." 

"Really? That's what you were stuck on?" Hunk questioned

"Don't mock me! I tried to think of why, but then it hurt my head.....I mean we are all like color coded, so that means that your headband should be yellow right? But it's not." Hunk breathed in and out and walked over to Lance, he placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around closing him in an embrace

"It was a really good friend's, he gave it to me when..... well he gave it to me when he was dying." Hunk said running his hand through Lance's hair

"I'm sorry to hear that....." Lance said a little sad

"Lance...." Hunk said separating "I can only imagine what you've been through since I've been out for a long _time_. I'm so--" Hunk stopped talking at the soft touch of Lance's lips on his own

"You don't need to apologize Hunk." Lance lightly scolded when he separated "You were stressed out over something that I had no control over. That voice did us all in, it still bothers some of us....Shiro and Keith know who the voice belongs to, but they don't know how its connected to you." Hunk let out a sigh as Lance brought up the voice that he had just escaped "I know you might not want to talk about it Hunk, but I have a right to know, I am your boyfriend."

"I know..."

Lance paused, slightly shocked that Hunk commented with that. Holding back was the very thing that sent Hunk into this room in the first place "So, who was that voice to you?" Lance dared to ask

Hunk looked at Lance's deep blue eyes, the eyes that he missed. The eyes that he could get lost in for days, the eyes that had helped him through so much.

"M-M-My brother....." Hunk stuttered out as he looked away from Lance

"Your....?!" Lance covered his mouth in horror "Your brother? I didn't even know you had a brother!" 

Hunk didn't want to talk about it, he wanted to bottle it up again and just hope that he wouldn't explode again. But at the same time he knew that he had to tell Lance everything, he knew that he had to tell the whole team. His brother was part of everyone's past, whether they knew it or not, Hunk's brother affected everything that the Garrison did.

"No one knew....." Hunk said slowly

"Oh my... I'm so sorry Hunk!" Lance began to cry thinking that someone's brother could say such defiling things. 

"Lance.... I love you so much." Hunk said, his grip around Lance almost bone crushing "I'm so sorry....I've been gone for a long time...." 

"Ya... I know... I was the one who started that clock...." Lance sniffle into Hunks shoulder "Everyone else thought it would be a bad idea if I did so because they thought I'd go insane." 

"It kind of helped, though, right?" Hunk smiled 

"You know me so well...." Lance laughed "With every day that passed I looked back on that day that I knew you. The fourth week was kind of hard to remember since you were scarcely there.... but I tried to look back on our relationship ship. I remembered something that I had forgotten about." 

"Oh?" They separated and sat facing each other on Lance's separate bed

"The first time you blew up the science lab, making everyone panic. But you were laughing in excitement--like a maniac-- because your experiment actually created a beautiful blue crystal. You cut it down to size and gave that to me for our month anniversary...."

"Oh right. But didn't they take the ring away?"

"Ya... Iverson took the ring away.... he had it in for the both of us..." Lance said in a little bit of a mad tone

"Lance.... I..." Hunk looked at lance, and then away 

"What?" Lance questioned as he looked at Hunk "Hunk, you can tell me anything."

"I know...." Hunk took in a deep breath "I'm so glad to be here...."

"You have no idea." Lance said with a little laugh "You were starting to worry everyone, we all could even feel Yellow's worries." 

_Yellow....._

"I'll have to apologize to her," Hunk said letting out a sigh and bringing Lance in for another hug, his hands wrapping around Lance's body holding him tight. A comforting grip on him as Lance too wrapped his hands around Hunk. They both whispered 'I missed you so much' countless times to the other as they embraced. 

"But...weren't you going to say something?" Lance questioned separating 

"It's about my past...." 

"Hunk--"

"My past before you... with my brother." Hunk said looking straight at Lance "We should gather everyone, they need to know this too." Hunk began to move and stand

"Hunk, wait!!" Lance tried to keep him rooted on the bed, and failed "They don't need to know your past!!" 

"Lance, I'll only tell them the gist of it, you will be the **only** one I tell the whole of it too. Shiro, Keith, and Pidge need to know about my brother because he affected them too." 

"Hunk....." Lance said awkwardly getting up to meet his boyfriend, "I'll be right there...." Lance decided to hold back what he was going to tell Hunk

They headed to the front of the ship where Lance said they'd all probably be (with the addition of Allura and Coran).

They both entered and with a little 'Hi' from Hunk they all tackled him (not enough to take him to the ground but enough to make him stagger). 

"It's so good to see you Hunk," Allura said, trying to not cry

"Why don't we all grab a bite to eat and talk?" Shiro said in a calm voice as he smiled

"Actually, we might want to save the food for later." Hunk said surprising them all "I have to tell you guys something about my past. Pidge was actually honest with you guys about hers, but I was too afraid to tell you mine--"

"Hunk that can wait," Keith said trying to tell Hunk that he needed something to ear

"No, it really can't. I want you guys to know me. Plus my past affects all of you too, so it's kind of important." 

They all agreed to Hunk's words, not that anyone was going to press it anymore with the fact that Hunk was fresh out of a two and a half month coma. The seven of them walked to the dining room and all sat in their seats around Hunk, Lance practically sitting in Hunk's lap he was so close to him. 

"First off, thank you all for caring for me. I never thought that I'd get so bad as to pass out, let alone be out for as long as I have been." Hunk held onto Lance's hand "As you all have probably figured out: I talk in my sleep. So I think you all have heard me repeating names." Hunk looked at Lance who's eyes confirmed that it was true "Victor, Chance, Dextra, and Vince...." Hunk said their names again and let out a sigh

"That's the G.R.G, right?" Pidge asked

"Right," Shiro said

"They were a ruthless bunch of delinquents," Hunk said looking at the table, "We all learned about them in the Garrison and we all were taught how to not be like their leader, Victor, the most. About a year before I joined the Garrison, when I turned 7, the G.R.G was disbanded. All people except the leader were counted missing and fugitives." Hunk saw the confusion on all of their faces as to why he was repeating this to them "They weren't disbanded.... the Garrison killed everyone but the leader." 

"What?!" Lance shockingly stated matching everyone's looks

"Hunk, how do you know this? That's classified information!" Shiro said a little authoritatively as if he knew

"Well, I know the same way you know, Shiro.... I was there." Hunk let out a long sigh

"You were there?" Keith questioned

"Victor..." Hunk let out a sigh and gripped Lance's hand tighter "Victor, the leader of the G.R.G, the man who killed countless lives......was...." He cleared his throat "is my older brother." Everyone went silent and stared at Hunk not believing in his words. 

"That's not true!!" Pidge said in an angry tone "That man was labeled as a monster! The Garrison said that he had no family." 

"The Garrison had told us many lies, we already know that so this shouldn't be a surprise that they held this from us too. It's simple, they caught Victor and the others on one of the few days that they brought me along. Chance, the man who gave me my headband, died before anyone. The Garrison shot him in the Liver and he bled out in minutes. He died in Victor's arms. The Garrison then used me as leverage to get my brother to talk. The ruffed me up until I couldn't walk on my own and the paraded me to my brother so that he would confess to everything he did...." 

"Hunk..." Lance put his hand over Hunk's which were shaking on the table

"So that begs the question.....If the Garrison did all that, why enroll?" Shiro asked

"That was part of a deal I made." Hunk breathed out heavily "They put it on the shoulders of a seven-year-old to decide the fate of him and his older brother. So, in order to not wind up like my brother the Garrison and I formed a contract saying that when I turned 8 I belonged to them, and them alone until they saw me fit to live a life that wasn't Victor's. I was Garrison property. I had to do whatever they said. They just didn't want another man like Victor. So I was put into special classes when I joined, I was taught how to be everything Victor wasn't. Then, one day, they were warned that a trouble maker from the McClain family was going to join the Garrison, they told me that no matter what, under no circumstances, was he to get out of my sight." Hunk looked over to Lance "You were the only good thing that came out of that contact..... that's why whenever we got caught collectively, they would send you back to your dorm and take me to the principal's office. They'd remind me time and time again that I was to avoid sneaking out, avoid acting wrong, avoid becoming like Victor....."

"Why did you never tell us?" Lance asked as he rubbed Hunks back

"Because.... my brother was a dark part of my past. He killed many people and I didn't want you all to put me in the same category as him."

"Did you really think we would?" Shiro questioned

"I... I didn't know. Shiro, I know that my brother did terrible things to you and your friends and I really didn't want you to think that I was like him....." Hunk let out a breath

"Your brother may be a terrible man," Keith said leaning towards Hunk, saddened and hurt "But, you are not your brother." Everyone smiled at Keith's words

"Those were my lines!!" Lance whispered a little angrily to which Keith shrugged his shoulders

"Hunk, we don't think any less of you." Shiro said "Because of your past, you are who you are today. We all have our demons to deal with, some more rooted than others, but we all have them." 

"You are still Hunk," Lance said kissing him on the cheek "MY Hunk~." 

Hunk looked at all of them. 

Yellow was right. Their reaction surprised him. Yellow knew that they would understand. He laughed as he began to cry a little his tears more of relief than anything. 

"Thank you!!"

 

Hunk felt a cold creeping up his skin. As if he were being prepped for a needle injection. He shrugged it off thinking that it was his body telling him that he was hungry. He hadn't had any real food in over two months. But just as he was starting to feel fine, he felt the small pinch like a needle and then the weird rush of the flow of the injection into his arm. He went to complain but his mouth was not moving. He looked to Lance, who appeared concerned and who's mouth was moving but no words audible. Everything went black. Hunk closed his eyes and felt himself fall. But he didn't hit anything. He didn't really fall. It felt more like he was suspended in the air like he was floating.

Hunk opened his eyes, seeing nothing but blackness. 

"NO!! LANCE!!" Hunk began to panic, tears welling in his eyes, "WHAT IS HAPPENING!!?!?! LANCE?!?!" Hunk screamed, but he didn't exactly hear his own voice come back. He called again and again and again, his voice lacking an echo, his voice lacking the escape from his lungs, his voice trapped in his sternum. His worries began to consume him. His worries began to wash over him.

Hunk felt trapped. He felt constricted. He felt alone. He felt linear? He recognized this feeling from WAY back when he got really injured in a firefight and he was put into the cryopod. 

 _Is that where I am?_ Hunk thought to himself as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening.  _Was that all just a lie??? Did I not wake up??? Did I not just see Lance? Did I just not have a reunion with my team and tell them my past? Was that all a projection? Am I in the cryopod?? WHAT??_

 ~~"Are you sure this is the one?"~~ A snare of a voice seeped itself into Hunk's brain rooting it's cold disgusting magical clutches on his emotional, fragile, brain stem. He felt nauseous, he knew that his whole life was in the hands of whoever this was. He knew that this was the hand that was in his head earlier, feels like the hand that dug in his brain back before he had his meltdown. But..... it can't be. That would be impossible! 

~~"He has on the Yellow Paladin's armor."~~

Hunk began to shake. The voice made him feel unrefined and made him feel as if he had not taken a step further but rather as if he were hurtled back. Hunk looked down to his hands, but his head was restrained he couldn't move any part of his body. He felt weak and taken over as if he weren't himself. He began to tremble in fear. 

 ~~"He may be _weak_ , but the others will come for him." ~~ 

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!" Hunk tried to scream

~~"I think this will do just fine, _Haggar_."~~

"WHERE AM I?!?!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you thought the Angst was over?


	10. Two Paladins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confusion is present. What will become of this new reality?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This contains my head cannon that King Alfor was the Yellow Paladin (instead of the popular HC that he's the Blue paladin).

Suspended in the air, surrounded by an impenetrable hoard of Galra ships, hovered the main fleet of the Galra Empire. In the center of all the ships stood the mother ship, where Zarkon himself sat proud and noble. He sat intrigued with the argument set in front of him, he sat demanding respect and acknowledgment, he sat knowing that with one word Haggar could kill all the generals that squandered his time in front of him. Haggar stood to the right side of Zarkon as the meeting of the minds extended past the seven-hour mark. She was starting to grow impatient with the conversation that was stuck in a loop. They conversed over something in question, they argued about whether or not they should even fight it head on, they contemplated moving the home fleet in order to save lives that would have potential in fulfilling the Galra Empire's need. The banter went on as Zarkon listened to the arguments and also gave his final say. At the nine-hour mark, Zarkon dismissed the meeting and began another. This was the life of the Emperor of the Galra, he had many quadrants to look after, many to make sure that they followed in his line of work and he had to make sure that any sight of Voltron was properly reported.  

After a short three-hour meeting about making sure that the moon of Hundoor couldn't revolt and was sure to be destroyed if it so much as a thought to uprise occurred, Zarkon walked up to the window in the throne room. His mind trying to be set at ease that his empire wouldn't fall so easily with the thousands of years that he has been running it. 

"Sire!" A soldier rushed in and his voice hitched at exit as he kneeled to Zarkon

"Yes?" Zarkon asked shortly not looking to the soldier

"The outer squad said that they had seen three of the lions. They are coming right for us." 

"Just as planned." Zarkon looked to his right where Haggar still was "Why don't you go wake _them_ up? Also, check on the Druids and see if they have found any weakness in the Yellow Lions armor or any fault in the Blue Lions maneuvers."

"As you wish," Haggar said with a soft tone as she then left his side. 

Haggar moved down corridor after corridor, heading towards the medical hanger. She passed the prison hanger where broken soldiers and gladiators waited for their deaths. She smiled as if she had won. As if in another world, the medical hanger was brightly illuminated (unlike the prison) and glorious pink healing crystals all around as if letting you acknowledge where you are. Haggar walked and walked until at the end of the crystallized hallway. It opened into a room where above floated a large crystal (if fallen on even Zarkon he would not survive); she walked to the middle of the room where a lower elevation than the rest of the room occurred. There stood two erect cryopods filled to the brim with the bile of a Snopshoot Snow Horse found only on Junjoo's 3rd moon. The bile toxic to any normal breed, but to humans, it causes a great deal of vivid hallucinations, and if two humans are in the vicinity of one another they will share the same hallucination and believe it was real from the beginning. 

Haggar made her way in the middle of the pods, up on the lip of the stairs right above where the bile would set when it excreted from the cryopods. She swayed her hands as she spouted a Druid incantation, a flash of purple lightning danced from her fingers around the cryopods. The bile that filled the cryopods began to ooze outside as if it were being regurgitated again. Haggar cackled as she witnessed the two beings inside slump and try to stand as they awakened. The two inside had on armor fit to perfection, the armor not deteriorated one bit from the bile and the luminescent bright blue 'V' on their shoulders hadn't wavered. 

The pod to the right began to move first. Banging and screaming as if it were a natural instinct to do so "WHAT?!" it barely audible due to the thick containment it was in. It began to bang on the glass harder trying to force its way out. "Let me out!! Where are we?! Who are you?!" 

Haggar placed her hand on the glass containing the voices small furry, and with a smile, she surged her lightning magic inside forcing a loud scream out of the one inside. 

"You will be silent." she demanded

* * *

Hunk was at a loss for words, he found himself in a cryopod-like container and covered in a substance that smelled of Roses mixed with fumes of the lunch ladies mystery meat (he found himself slightly glad he knows nothing about the substance). He ignored the smell and was relieved to find himself able to think a little bit, the fog clouding his brain slowly lifting.

He heard muffled voices again, but this time two different people were arguing. 

"Do you remember anything?" a deep voice questioned in an overpowering tone

"NO!! Where is he?!?" the other voice questioned in a more motherly tone, but in a way hinted to Hunk that it belonged to a person that he held special to his heart. The voice was as clear as day, but when Hunk went to move he was restricted by his mind's worries. 

 

_Was all of that just a dream? What's reality and what's my subconscious desire? Did I really want that badly to see my past strewn out in front of me? Was my subconscious guiding the actions of my friends? Did any of them live that with me? What is going on here?!? Why do I feel like we've been here for a long time? Where is here?_

 

"You were foolish to think that Voltron could defeat Zarkon." A different and demeaning voice called as a figure loomed in front of Hunk's cryopod

"What are you talking about?" 

"You five-- _Paladins_ \--thought you could bring Voltron to Zarkon and defeat him but you fools brought the most powerful weapon right to him!"

"Ya, he separated us, that was months ago, though!" 

"You humans really don't understand the concept of time...." The figure in front of Hunk waved it's hand outside of the window of the cryopod and slowly opened it. He was towering over a small older alien. Her hair gray and her eyes golden like a cat's though she was not a Galra she had a specifically maniacal air around her. Two thickly built Galra soldiers grabbed Hunk and yanked him out of the cryopod. They forced him to kneel, to which he let out a grunt. 

"Hunk!!" Hunk looked over to the voice that had been arguing

"Lance?!" Hunk looked over to his boyfriend who was in the same predicament as he was but the two holding Lance down were more emotionally keeping him at bay rather than physically

"What is going on here?" Lance questioned to Hunk as if he thought Hunk would know.

"I have....no idea." Hunk said looking up to the woman his voice bubbling and distraught (just like his mind).

"I guess we had them in the bile for too long.... interesting." She said

"What do you mean by that?" Hunk asked, "How long have we been in there?" 

"Earth's time is more of a joke. Humans wanted to think they understood what a concept of time could be if marked by simplistic numbers on a scale. If I were to tell you how long you have been in there, your minds would not be capable of wrapping around the idea of it." She smirked as she made the two feel inferior by a large margin "I can maybe dumb it down, if we were to estimate the time that you were inside the bile, it could (though not entirely accurate) be rounded to the equivalent of 8 sun appearances on Earth." 

"Eight days?!" Hunk looked over to Lance when Lance squeaked out the exclamation

"Days? Is that what Earth calls that?" 

"We were made to believe that we were in there for 76 days, how is that possible?!" Hunk asked as if she were going to answer anything more but she did no such thing. Without an answer from the woman Lance began to get impatient,

"What is going on??" Lance demanded to know

The woman looked to the four soldiers holding Hunk and Lance down "Take them to Zarkon, he will tell you what to do with them." The soldiers didn't question a single word she spoke. They waited until she left to be able to move, out of respect for her superiority. When about to leave they didn't cuff Lance and Hunk as if to tell them that they were so weak that they posed not a single threat to them. With no regards to Lance, they lifted him as if he were a leaf and dragged Hunk behind them as if he were a defeated soldier. Lance complained most of the way, his worries mostly voiced towards Hunk more than anyone else. 

"What was that?? 76 days! Two and a half months! Was that all a lie??" Lance questioned "You were in a coma, and I was depressed. You told me about your past.... was any of that--"

"I saw all that too." Hunk replied to Lance "It felt so real...." Hunk looked at his hands

"So that all happened then??" 

"You two are  _zadins._ " One Galra said making the others laugh. 

"What does that mean?!" Lance questioned as if he were to fight these, obviously, elite Galra soldiers without a weapon.

"A _zadin_ is.... well if I were to try to even translate it to your simple human language it would be like a term which you use to express when someone is about to die a horrible, painful, death."

With that said and a snicker from the guards Lance and Hunk had a silent mind-conversation. Not that they could actually talk mind-to-mind but more they looked at each other and mouthed words trying to convey their emotions as well as try to figure out what had happened to them. Just as they had begun to get used to communicating they entered in through large double doors with what looked like a kindergarten version of an outline to a Galra ship and they were tossed onto the ground, butt in air and chin meeting the metal floor.  

On the other side of the room, sitting as if he were not moved nor threatened in the least bit by these two was none other than Zarkon himself. His hands grasped the edge of his arms rests on his throne as if he were preparing to hold himself back and not engage in a petty battle that would be easily won by him. These paladins to him were no more than mice in a maze made of ever moving pieces. Zarkon didn't move, his gaze enough to make a man break if looked into long enough, his physical presence devouring all pride that the two had left. Zarkon let out a hum as if he were preparing to play a game with these two as if they were simple keys on a 5 note piano.

"As you requested, my Emperor." the Galra said as they stepped back a little.  

They moved backward, knowing full well the power that Zarkon held. Hunk, feeling gutsy, sat up and refused to smell the Galra infested, footprinted, blood stained metal. He didn't look at Zarkon, no he didn't dare go that far just yet, but he did move without a say so. Lance, not wanting Hunk to be targeted, shot up as well and sat as if he were back in his home with his legs crossed in front of him and his hands holding onto his ankles as if that would protect his sanity and calm his racing heart. 

"Excellent." Zarkon spoke, his words carrying enough fear without him so much as moving an inch "You two  _Paladins_ are a sad excuse to that name. You foolishly charged with Voltron formed as if you expected a different event to happen than last time I came face to face with you." Lance bit his tongue as Zarkon lectured them about the power that Voltron holds, about them being incompetent pilots and not understanding the war that they were involved in. "You have no right to be called Paladins of Voltron."  

"You're right." Hunk said looking straight at Zarkon

"I beg your pardon?" Zarkon questioned with a twitch in his hand

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Lance whisper-yelled

"Zarkon is right, Lance, we know nothing about Voltron. We were dragged into this simply because the blue lion thought that we could, somehow, learn what we needed to in the short amount of time that we had." Hunk let out a sigh "I am not what a Voltron Paladin should be. I know this. I am not worthy of the title of a Voltron Paladin. I am not agile, I am not physically or mentally fit, I am not even emotionally stable for this." He bit his bottom lip to stop it from quivering and glared at Zarkon "But the yellow lion chose **me**. She decided that I could do this, that I could be a Paladin of Voltron. Yellow believes in me and I have the other four to back me up. We don't care what the Paladin's of old were like, they might've had stronger bonds with their lions, who knows? But the facts are the facts: We are the yellow and blue Voltron Paladins, we were chosen by them. And if you have a problem with that, you're just going to have to deal with it."

"Well," Zarkon said standing up, his body leaving behind the normal Emperor aura and as he walked towards Hunk he had more of a demon king's presence. Hunk shivered out of nothing more than fear from the disgust that coated Zarkon's words. "The Yellow Paladin of old was much like you." Zarkon moved forward as if he were to do something to Hunk as if he dared try anything with the Yellow Paladin of Voltron "He was a great man, his kindness knew no bounds and his back carried all the problems of the Paladins. The man was truly the picture of a Paladin. Though Alfor knew not of what Voltron could do either and he paid the price." Zarkon and Hunk stared at each other and on one hand Lance was ready to rip Zarkon apart for threatening Hunk but in the same light, he knew he would've peed his pants if Zarkon was looking at him with those glowing soulless eyes.

Hunk was more staring out of the blatant comment that Zarkon was comparing him (of all the Paladins) to King Alfor, who apparently wasn't' the head of Voltron..... but instead the left leg?

Zarkon was about to manifest something out of his mouth, some foul speech or some disheartening words, but a small shake with an almost mute explosion sounded off. If Zarkon was speaking they would've missed it, that's how much it didn't matter. "Looks like the others have finally come to save you," Zarkon said signaling the men behind Lance and Hunk. 

"The others??" Hunk questioned

"Yes, the other--so called--Paladins seemed to think that bringing the rest of Voltron to me a third time would change something." Zarkon scoffed athoritatively as he returned to his throne. Zarkon motioned (with his hands) to the guards who roughly grabbed Lance and Hunk. The two yelled as the guards dragged them away. They wanted to tell Shiro, Pidge, and Keith that this was a trap, that they were dooming Voltron, that somehow that was a dream and they have no idea what's even going on! They were both lost for words, lost for fight, and just lost in general. 

The guards dragged them to the prison hold and tossed them both into a cell together. Locking it and leaving with foreign remarks as if damning them here until they die.

Hunk backed into the corner, his hands covering his face as he tried his best to think of what to do. Everything had happened so fast. Everything that he thought he knew was really one realistic dream or some sort of sick hallucination. As Hunk melted onto the ground, Lance banged on the door and protested his imprisonment. After what seemed like an hour Lance gave up and just sat beside Hunk. 

Hunk was still in his mind. He was still stuck in a loop of thought that he was in a dream in a dream trapped on a Galra ship that made him relive _that_ event. But not only did that have to happen, but also Lance lived it with him, Lance suffered on his own. They lived (mentally) 2 months without each other, and when they had reconvened they both looked much older, but now. Now that they are slowly beginning to grasp what is going down right now, they see that they haven't aged a day since Zarkon had separated Voltron (and according to the woman it had been a little over a week).

"What happened, I wonder....?" Hunk questioned trying to get him mind off of the mind melding hallucination. He tried to think of what happened before but everything in his mind flowed so well together that it seemed that it was the truth.  

"I remember everything so vividly...." Lance said in a sort of fast gasp as he tried to hold back tears. He obviously not talking about what happened in real life, but more along the lines of what happened in the make-shift dream thing they both just woke up from. "So weird...."

The air around the two was getting a little awkward, knowing that they both had no idea of anything that went down. Hunk and Lance tried to look at each other, but it seemed that Lance was more ready to ask a question along the lines of the hallucinogenic dream than what happened in real life. Hunk knew that Lance wanted to finish their conversation, Lance wanted to tell Hunk the hell he went through for those two--apparently imaginary-- months. Lance let out several sighs as he tried to fight the urge of asking Hunk anything more about his past, the simple reason being that he didn't want to hurt Hunk any further. 

"Listen, Lance, about the dream _thing_ we shared together--"

"Hunk, it's fine," Lance said, "I still love you." he smiled as he looked at Hunk

"I know, but listen," Hunk said sitting up "I....I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. Mom always said to keep it in and not let anyone know that I was being bothered, that I should be the strong one and be there for the others. With that, my whole life I-I didn't know how you'd react....I guess I always wanted you to never know and I was hoping that I would grow out of the anxiety and worry. I was hoping that the anniversary wouldn't be as bad....as it apparently got." 

"Hunk, you don't need to justify what happened." Lance moved to face Hunk and placed a reassuring hand on Hunk's thigh "You're brother was the rude, heartless, man that destroyed the Garrison and killed many people. I wouldn't want anyone to know that my brother was _the_ Victor either." 

"Lance..." Hunk choked out Lance's name "That's not why I couldn't tell you." 

"What are you talking about? Is there more to the story?" 

"Ya... remember how I said that only you would know the full of what Victor did.....?" 

"Of course. That happened like--what feels like-- a few minutes ago."

"I loved him, truly. Victor was there after my...." Hunk was about to tell Lance some more stuff about his past that Lance knew nothing about "Victor was there after our father died." Hunk let out a sigh

"What?" Lance whimpered out. Lance had never met Hunk's mother, simply because of the fact that Hunk was never allowed to see her because she was the mother of Victor and the Garrison thought that she would turn Hunk into another Victor. Lance never questioned when Hunk said that his mother 'probably' approved. But this..... this changed everything.

"The reason that Victor hated the Garrison was because our father died there. He was with the scientists and there was an explosion. The Garrison blamed it on our father, essentially." Hunk let out a sigh "They brought a few of dad's things to us, a burnt book and a few misshapen pins were the gist of it, but then there was this really cool green vest that dad wore." 

"Oh, babe, don't tell me--"

"Ya. That vest I always wear is dads. That's why when you see me freaking out I try to get as enclosed in it as possible." Hunk smiled for a second chucking "But anyway, Victor blamed the Garrison and he decided to take his anger out on them. He sought out people that felt the same way and those people happened to be Vince and Dextra. When he was going to go on his first mission-thing Chance caught him and instead of trying the grueling task of talking my brother out of something he made his mind on Chance decided to go with him to be the voice of reason.

"As you know Chance is the one who gave me my headband. On the last mission that they did they brought me along because I simply wanted to join again. I loved being around Victor, he was strong, smart, and everything I wanted to be. But on that last day, all hell went loose."

"Hunk, you don't have to go through it again." Lance tried to comfort Hunk by looking into his eyes and cupping Hunks' face with his free hand that wasn't on Hunk's thigh. 

"I have to Lance. I have to tell you, you have to know." Hunk said, "I... want you to know." With that, Lance listened without another word. "Victor and the others planned to bomb the Garrison to make a statement, and it went well. We got out safe and sound and nothing seemed wrong. Then, out of nowhere, Chance fell off his bike and rolled on the ground. Victor pulled around and checked on Chance, thinking he might've overexerted himself with worry again. But then we all saw blood. And when we looked up the Garrison was right on out tails. They didn't help Chance, not one bit. He was just collateral damage to get Victor to behave." Hunk swallowed hard "That was the first time I met Iverson." 

"Iverson?!" Lance exclaimed, "The hard head that watched us train??" 

"Ya. He was the one to kill Chance, and the one who interrogated me, and the one to make the deal with me." Hunk closed his eyes for a second, the picture still so vivid in his brain "We made the deal, and he let Victor and me go..... but Dextra and Vince were killed too." Hunk accidentally let a tear go, he quickly flicked it away with the palm of his hand "Victor then was allowed to take me home so he did."

"Hunk--"

"I'm not done, Lance." Hunk said looking down at the floor trying to not see the pity in Lance's eyes. Lance placed his hand over Hunks as if to encourage him to continue, to which Hunk let out a shaking breath "Victor didn't want our mother to see me the way the Garrison had made me, he didn't want mom to see her youngest bruised and beaten, cut and bleeding. So we made a pit stop at Chance's home to fix my wounds." Hunk sighed again, he felt like he was sighing a little too much but he dismissed the thought soon after "Lance--" Hunk hitched his voice tears now streaming from Hunks eyes as he looked into Lance's own ocean blue orbs that danced and dazzled themselves in worry of what Hunk was going to say next. "The reason I hate my brother now.... it because of what happened at that house." His lips quivered and his body began to shake as he was about to let a burden of 9 years go. "He kept me-me in that house for so long.....he-he....no matter how much I pleaded, he didn't stop. I was his brother.... I was only seven." Hunk sobbed silently as he sniffed his nose trying to not let his appearance become any more pitiful than he already imagined it being. At this point Lance was on the brink of crying too "he.... every day, more than once a day, for weeks and weeks he told me I was worthless. Victor told me no one would love me, he told me that no one would care about me, that I was worth nothing. He forced himself on me, his brother! He pretended to comfort me as he repeatedly  _raped_ me." When that word left Hunks mouth he gasped and then couldn't breathe he was sobbing so uncontrollably. And so, with no words, Lance brought Hunk into a hug.Holding the back of Hunks head into the hard shoulder of his paladin armor. The two's chests clinked together as they met in the middle. Lance bit down hard on his bottom lip as he followed Hunks lead and cried.

 

Lance was horrified, to say the least, that his Hunk had to go through that. That his Hunk thought that about himself daily. That Hunk's self-deprecating jokes back in the day were not jokes at all. Lance cradled Hunk as Hunk's voice bounced off the walls, his wails of depression and anxiety leaving his body, his boisterous cried helping him finally let out a build of grief. Hunk had lost something so important at a young age, but it wasn't that he lost it that hurt the most, but that it was forcibly taken away. 

But Lance loved Hunk no less now knowing what happened. Lance loved Hunk more than ever before allowing his man to be the vulnerable on this time around, allowing his man to be the one to hold onto him with all his life and all his hope as he let out his anger and sadness that he had let build for 9 years. 

Lance was there and loved Hunk all the more, he didn't fear that their relationship would grow apart, no if anything Lance felt that their relationship was enhanced. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback! If you guys want I just made a Tumblr for this fic specifically and you can find me at enHANCE-ao3! Thanks again!!


	11. Risk Everythin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk is worried Lance won't love him now that he knows his past. Lance is worried that the two will never see outside ever again. They are both worried for their friends fighting to save them.

Lance sat with his back to the prison wall, his eyes puffy from crying so much. He and Hunk had a real talk. They told each other everything that the other didn't already know, they opened themselves up fully and both felt as if a large weight had been lifted (more so on Hunk's part than Lance's). Hunk had worn himself out from sobbing so in an attempt to calm down he rested his head on Lance's thighs, his breath calming slowly but still somewhat shaky. Hunk was staring at the fabric on Lance's legs as Lance ran his hand through Hunks hair. They both were silent, hearing nothing but the small booming outside that would be missed with even a whisper. They both felt deep in their hearts that Voltron was going to be Zarkons, that they both were going to be accompanied by the others and then executed in front of Zarkon.

With every blast that resonated with the fleet, they were left to wonder who was firing and who was getting shot. Their minds filled with their comrades--their Voltron family-- getting hurt and bruised and even ejected from their lion (as Shiro has been twice now). Each small rumble made them think harder and harder to discern who was winning and who wasn't. This was the worst part: the wait. Without Lance and Hunk, they can't form Voltron. They can't win this. They can't.

There was a stronger rumble that shifted Lance and Hunk a little, either proving that Keith, Shiro, and Pidge can hold their own or that Zarkon had a powerful weapon under his control.

"What was that?" Hunk asked in a whisper as he then began to twirl his finger on Lance's thigh staring off into nothingness.

"I think we might be winning...." Lance stated unsure of his own comment. Hunk let out an exaggerated sigh.

They both may have survived the demons of the past but that means nothing to the demons in the present. Hunk could apply the same principals to the Galra as he did Victor, but he was too afraid to even think of Victor at this moment. Hunk looked up for a second, a small thought coming into his head. A small thing that he might be able to do that would help them tell the team that they were alright and that everyone should back off and let them find a way to escape. Hunk sat up slowly, making Lance's face turn questionable as he watched Hunk stand and move towards the door. Hunk called for his bayard when he placed his hand to his side, the bayard metabolized in his hand.

"I need your help...." He said softly to the bayard as he activated it, but this time he did not create his signature, overpowered, huge, cannon-gun, this time what metabolized was more along the lines of a swiss army knife.

"Hunk? What are you doing?" Lance asked as he leaned forward resting his arms on his legs that needed to be stretched anyway

"I just have an idea, I have no idea if it will work, though..." He turned to Lance and tried to smile "It wouldn't hurt anything, we'd be no further ahead if I failed." Hunk chuckled painfully as he frigged with the panel in front of him and forced it open. There stood an array of wires, all labeled in Galra, to Hunk's dismay. Hunk started to think, he assumed that all he was going to need was some power source or something to channel any of these wires. This was when he realized they didn't have their helmets and that this plan was a waste of time. "I guess it won't work...."  Hunk leaned back and ran his hand through his hair.

"That's okay, Hunk," Lance said stretching his warming hands out so that Hunk could come back and envelope himself in his Boyfriend's scent "Like you said, we are no worse for wear."

Hunk smiled a genuine smile as he walked back over to Lance and hugged him. Though the hug was short, and not what Lance was expecting, Hunk seemed content. Hunk stood again, and this time bringing Lance with him. Hunk put both hands on either side of Lance's face.

"Hunk?" Lance questioned looking into his blushing boyfriends face

"I..." Hunk let out a shaking breath, his eyes not calm and his face noticeably nervous "I need more than a hug right now....." He said taking one of his hands and running it down Lance's jaw line ending at his chin. Hunk slowly lifted Lance's chin and breathed in before asking "Can I?"

"Hunk, We've kissed so many times already. You don't need to ask." Lance laughed a little at the sight of his man worried about kissing him

"I...." Hunk looked down to Lance's lips as he continued to speak "I know. I just wanted to make sure you were still okay with someone _like me_ kissing you."

"..!" Before Lance could yell at Hunk he was brought into a kiss. Hunk was gentle, as always, but there was something different about this kiss. There was something specific about this kiss that got Lance worried about Hunk. It might've been the comment before Hunk kissed him, or the fact that Hunk's brows were almost sewn together and his eyes shut as he pressed himself into the kiss, or it could be the fact that Lance could've sworn Hunk whined. Lance decided that once Hunk separated that he wasn't going to mention anything, that if Hunk so desired to tell him then he would.

But then Lance thought about it. That's what got them here in the first place.

 _Wait_ Lance began to think to himself _That was back in the dream thing.... but still.... I made a decision to leave it alone and then Hunk passed out.... I'm not letting that happen again._

Hunk slowly brought their lips apart, both pained at the feeling of the intimacy gone from their bodies. Hunk then brought their foreheads together and let out a breath.

"Hunk?" Lance questioned again, Hunk's eyes still shut tight.

"I love you, Lance." Hunk said, "When I'm with you I forget about my past, I forget what _he's_ done, and I just forget that there is a world other than the two of us." Hunk opened his eyes marginally, looking down to the ground "I never want us to be apart, and I know that hearing I've been with a man before might turn you off--especially when that man was my brother-- but I just want you to know that I still want an 'us' in this world. I still want you, and even though you've been really relaxed I'm still afraid that you might not feel the same about me anymore."

"Hunk," Lance said in a little bit of an angry tone. He brought both his hands up and cupped Hunks face "Do I have to call you by your actual first name?" Lance semi-threatened semi-teased.

 _That's right!_ Hunk said to himself as if realizing something that he should've in the hallucination-dream _Victor always called me by my birth name but in the dream, he called me 'Hunk'... I should've caught onto that.... it's been years since anyone has called me my birth name, though...._

"No..." Hunk chuckled

"Good. Remember what I told you when I deemed you 'Hunk'? Or why I even deemed you that in the first place?"

"How could I forget?"

Hunk laughed at the memory. It was a little bit after they started dating (and kind of announced it to their semi-close friends). Way back _then_. Hunk and Lance were the strangest looking couple, some of their classmates poked fun at how Hunk looked beside Lance and vice versa. So one day Hunk told Lance his worries, that he didn't want Lance to be made fun of because Hunk was fat. So Hunk swore that he would lose weight so that they could live a happy life, but Lance commented:

> "What?!! You don't need to lose weight! I love you how you are, okay? You're not fat, you're a-a-a-a-a-a **HUNK**!!!"

That day was also the first time either of them said 'I love you' in a sentence. So because Lance wanted Hunk to be more confident he began calling him nothing except 'Hunk', and it soon caught on with everyone. He just became the 'Hunk' of the class. He became Lance's Hunk.

"Look at that handsome smile~," Lance said smiling back to Hunk who let out a real laugh and smiled brightly. "There's _my_ Hunk." Lance kissed him softly again and separated.

"I love you so much--" Hunk's words were caught off by a large explosion close enough to them to toss them off their feet and be thrown a little across the room, but not enough to actually engulf them in its fiery rage.

"You okay?"

"Ya, I'm fine--" Hunk said sitting up, he went to say something but a different voice chimed in

"Could you two be a little more careful?" her voice called in a quiet and angry tone (her best quality). They both looked at each other in disbelief and stayed silent, "Are you sure they are even here?!" That confirmed it. The voice belonged to Pidge!! She was there to save them, and somehow the other two were holding off the Galra main fleet by themselves. "No, Keith, I didn't! Good idea, though, let me just wait for a Galra soldier and ask them if they know where Lance and Hunk are...." She replied sarcastically in a whisper "Ya, ya." She sighed "Send me in alone. It's not like we are at Zarkon's main base, no not at all....." She let out an aggravated sigh "I know right, Rover. Seriously, though, are we even sure that they are here? Zarkon could've moved them."

Hunk ran to the door, a little opening just low enough for him to see out of the room.

His heart raced. There she was, her trusty Rover right beside her giving her encouraging beeps. Her posture looked messy like she had been sleeping in her self-dubbed computer room for several nights again. Hunk wanted to whisper to her 'hey' or something along those lines but instead came out a brotherly growl.

"You need to take better care of yourself." Pidge stopped and shivered, she whipped her head around and met eyes with Hunk. She did a silent scream for him and a small dance as Rover was opening their prison door.

"I found them!! I found them!!" She chanted into her helmet as the door slowly whooshed to the side. "That's what I'm doing, Keith!! Stop ordering me around!" She called into her helmet. Hunk smiled as Pidge was right there in front of him. His second best friend. His partner in mechanics. His little buddy. His Pidge. His Katie.

Pidge motioned for them to follow her, the sounding of Galra droids was getting louder and they had to get to the lions fast. She could relish in their safety when they were all back to the Castle of Lions. Hunk followed her closely. He smiled as he thought back to the first day he met her, he knew the second he laid eyes on her that she was different. She never looked like a Pidge, but she never truly looked like a Katie. Hunk giggled to himself thinking back when they all found out her birth name due to Shiro scolding her and accidentally slipping it out. She was furious (to say the least).

"Are you two done arguing?" She questioned into her helmet which was nothing but static and the faint scramblings of Shiro and Keith yelling at each other

"Have you gotten to the Lions yet?" Shiro asked loudly and authoritatively

"No. They are down this corridor and I don't think it will be that easy getting Blue and Yellow out of here." She said a little worried "We will," Pidge said as they came to a stop right in front of an open door where the lions were being held

"What have you found out?" a Galra commander, or so he sounded, asked a worker

"Nothing so far. We are still trying to get past the particle barriers."

Hunk let out a breath as he heard that they hadn't touched Yellow yet (Lance let out a matching breath as well).

"So how are we going to get the lion's back?" Pidge questioned to herself

"I have an idea," Hunk said smiling "It involves--"

"No." Lance said, placing his hand on Hunk's shoulder "I love you, but no. I have a better idea."

Hunk then smiled matching Lance's smile "Oh, this'll be good."

"Ya." Lance grinned as he called his bayard and formed his blaster "Go in, guns-a-blazin!" He said in a dramatic tone

"That is a terrible idea!" Pidge quietly exclaimed, "Plus, we have no idea how many are in there."

"Oh. I don't 'spose you have a better idea, Pidge!" Lance fought back

"Any idea would be better than that one!" She said "Shut up, Keith! No one asked for your opinion!" She called again into her headset letting out a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to the door, making sure that no one was coming

"You okay, Pidge?" Hunk asked making her twitch in his direction

"I just.... really missed you guys."

"Pidge, it's been--like-- a week," Lance said a little flattered that she missed them

"Really?"

"That's what the Galra said when they let us out of the pods when you guys arrived," Hunk added

"It feels like months.... Coran thought it had to have been about a half an Earth year." Pidge looked at them concerned "You two are like brothers to me, and it hurt knowing that you were in the same clutches as my brother and father. That you two might see something that should've never come into view, that you two would witness something that you shouldn't have. It hurt to lose you." She lightly punched Lance "You idiot."

"ME?" he questioned, "Why am I the idiot??"

"Don't play dumb" She laughed "You were the one that risked your life and dove into over 3000 Galra drones just to try to get Hunk and the Yellow lion. But that ended with the both of you getting captured."

"I did that?" Lance looked at Pidge confused

"Ya, Lance," she scoffed slightly hurt that Lance questioned her words "You risked _everything_ to save Hunk."


	12. In the Arms of the one you Love.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting Galra and trying to get the two back. Will it happen smoothly or will the crap hit the fan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating Friday! I had a bunch of stuff going on and was actually a little stuck with this chapter as well. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, and updates will return to be Monday, Wednesday, Friday!

They had to move. They had to hide. They couldn't stay here forever and wait for the Galra to leave the room. They had to move....now.

Hunk grabbed Lance's hand and grabbed Pidge's as he moved them to a space on the other side of the hall that was empty and had dark lighting. They silently complained but stopped when a hoard of Galra soldiers moved by their spot moments after. The three knew that they had to get to the lions but they wanted to try to get to them with as little violence as possible. 

"Are you guys in the lions yet??" Keith asked as he grunted and an almost silent alarm went off in his lion

"We are thinking of a plan!" Pidge said back cupping the front of her mouth so that she could be quieter

"You guys need to hurry!" Keith said, "I don't know how much longer we can do this!" 

"Pidge, just go to the green lion and get out of here." Lance said looking at her "Hunk and I will get to our lions."

"I don't want to leave you guys--"

"Pidge," Hunk let go of Lance's hand and wrapped both his hands around Pidge's significantly smaller hand "We have been through a lot together, the three of us. Trust us to get our lions and be out there by the time you return to the green lion, okay?" Pidge just started into Hunk's hopeful brown eyes as he spoke to her as if they were equals (as if he saw her at the same age and maturity level of him). She didn't say a word as she nodded her head and solemnly got Rover to locate a way out. She didn't want to leave them, really. She was afraid that if she did they would be captured again and this time tortured. 

"You sure have a way with the ladies,~" Lance mocked quietly to Hunk when Pidge jumped down a trash shoot. 

Hunk laughed through his nose and turned to Lance, he placed his hands on either side of Lance's face and brought him in for a small kiss. 

"What was that for?" Lance blushed and commented as if to try to mask that he was caught off guard by Hunk's action

"Recharge." Hunk smiled, "Ready, Lance?" Hunk called for his bayard

"Ready?? For what?" 

"Going in 'gun's-a-blazin', what else?" Hunk smiled. Lance matched Hunk's determined look. Lance was so elated to see that Hunk was himself right now. He was his normal encouraging self. Lance knew that Hunk still had a bad taste in his mouth from the hallucination-dream because he did too. But Pidge's words resonated with him and he silently lectured himself that they would talk to the team about the idiotic move that he, apparently  pulled when they get back to the castle of lions. 

The two held hands for a second and slowly walked to the threshold of the room where they were holding their Lions. Hunk hit his bayard against the closing mechanism, imparing it to ever open again, and they both activated their bayards.  There weren't that many drones nor Galra inside, but that didn't make shooting them that much easier. They both were a tad bit rusty with their weapons, seeming how Lance had been using a sword with Keith in order to beat something and get aggravation out while Hunk had been the one being beaten and abused in the past--mentally--two months. Lasers just missed their heads and bodies as they moved from behind boxes to behind other stacks of boxes, repeating the action as they thinned the manpower that stopped them from getting to their lions.

Lance lined up a shot, the top half of his body in the open, as he tried to go for the ultimate shot and take three down at once. Hunk saw how his boyfriend was being an idiot and called him out on it a second in time, as Lance ducked a laser passed right through where his head would've been. Lance yelled back

"You saved me, how sweet! You are my brownie batter, babe!!" Lance smiled and laughed

"And you, my hot sauce,~" Hunk cooed back as he took out the last remaining drones. 

"I want to kiss you so bad!!" Lance said running to Hunk

"We can do that in the castle of Lions, okay?" Hunk asked, "We should go before they send more." 

"I love that brain of yours!" Lance smiled as he got on his tippy-toes and kissed Hunk's headband "I'll see you in our castle, Prince Hunk."

Hunk laughed out loud "Lance, just get into Blue already!!" He disappeared into Yellow's field as he remarked. He watched as Lance spouted his native tongue to Blue and laughed as he said it, his eyes still puffy from crying earlier and his complexion a tad too pale for Hunk's comfort (but then again thaT could be the hue from Blie illuminating itself over Lances complexion. Hunk turned to Yellow who already had her mouth open for him and everything. "It feels like forever, Yellow..." Hunk said as he slowly stepped onto her mouth entering. The second his foot hit the metal a surge of life was coursing through his veins. He could feel Yellow's worries, her cries, her pleas, her concerns. He felt her questioning why he looked so worse for wear, he felt her asking where he had been, he felt her motherly calls to him as he walked to his pilot seat. He felt her guide him to his helmet--which was placed ever so gently on his seat.

Hunk held the helmet and gazed at its scratches as he sat down. He thought of his worries that he had, he thought of every negative thing that Victor had said to him, he thought of everything. He had no idea why it all came rushing back at the touch of his helmet. 

"Are you two done dancing? Can we go??" Hunk heard Lance's playful voice over the headset followed by Keith and Shiro's relieved sighs. Hunk let out a breath as he put the helmet on with a little bit of a struggle, as always. 

He felt Yellow project hope into his head, hope of a new day. The hope of everything settling. 

"I know...." Hunk said quietly "Let's go home." Hunk said rearing Yellow "Ready, Lance?" 

"Hunk you're okay too??" Shiro questioned happily

"We are a package, Shiro!!" Lance replied, "You ain't gettin' one of us without the other!" 

"Alright, Team Voltron, let's get out of here!" Shiro answered back with a hearty laugh

Hunk and Lance piloted their lions, Hunk forced his through the Galra ships wall (creating a vacuum suction) and they both joined the other three out in space. 

"Where is the castle?" Lance asked as he got close to the Black lion

"Allura and Coran are waiting a bit away, last time they were with us it didn't go so well....." Shiro said with concern coating his words when Lance asked.

The five maneuvered around the drones that were sent after them and when meet up with Allura they (as Lance would say) "Wormholed" their way out. 

 

As they traveled through the wormhole, to where ever they were going, the five paladins exited their lions and convened in the main bridge with Allura and Coran. Hugs and tears were shared as Lance and Hunk were finally back with them, time seeming to never end and everyone's hope seemed to be lost to ever get them back. Now that they were in light Hunk saw that Pidge had bags under her eyes and her hair was messy.... though she wasn't the only one who looked worse for wear (the all did--himself included). 

"You can't ever do that again, Lance!" Allura said putting her hands together in a sort of prayer position and pressing them to her lips

"Pidge mentioned that earlier, what do you guys mean??" 

"You don't remember?" Shiro questioned concerned 

Hunk put his hand on Lance's shoulder "Neither of us know what happened. We were put into a hallucinating state, we didn't even know we were captured." The group just looked at them in awe that the Galra had this type of technology in their hands as well as the fact that the two practically proposed to each other as their (supposed) last words. "Do you mind telling us?" Hunk asked, worried about what might've happened

"It might be better to just show you. I mean, our helmets recorded the whole thing." Shiro looked to Coran who waved his hand and popped up an altean keyboard. He seemed to type in some commands and then a large blue screen showed up with all five of their helmet views.

The fist helmet was Shiro, they all went silent as they focused on him:

 

Shiro maneuvered around and around, barely dodging all the lasers being sent his direction. He knew that Zarkon wanted the black lion, and the drones focussing on him was a given. But what worried him was that in the distance Hunk was silent, he didn't say anything, even the Yellow lion seemed out of it. Zarkon had just ripped them apart again, and Shiro somehow got back into Black with the help from Keith..... again.

"Hunk are you alright??" Shiro called. 

Hunk's view was more panicked as he noticeably began to break down and mutter things to himself. "No. No. No. No. Yellow please talk to me.... Yellow?? This can't be happening!!! I can't.... I can't be abandoned again.... it's getting cold.... Yellow, please?" Hunk talked as his eyes darted from place to place avoiding his video. "It... it can't be _that_ time.... I can't....." Tears began to stream down his face as he tried to calm himself in the most concerning way "Smile. Take a deep breath, Hunk. Everything will pass." He let out a shaky breath "The past is in the past, don't let it control the present. Stifle your emotions, you are not the only one hurting....let no one see that you are hurting....I can't handle it if they find out... those eyes will forever stain them, and they won't be able to look at me the same. If they ever found out they wouldn't help, they wouldn't seek me out anymore. They would abandon me, they would **despise** me." Hunk's words were not helping him, but he continued "You are worthless. You are worthless. You are worthless. You are worth less." He kept repeating it, he kept sounding it out. 

 

As everyone heard Hunk's calls they looked away. They didn't look at each other, they just looked to the ground and looked in pain as he panicked.

 

Outside of the Yellow Lion showed hundreds of droids propelling her towards the Galra ship, her being out of commission, for some reason, being to their advantage. 

"HUNK!!" Lance's voice yelled jolted everyone on the screens and in person. Lance's panicked voice just echoed, with a silence of lasers and minute cursing filling the background

"Lance what's happening?" 

"They're trying to take Hunk!" 

"Lance there are too many of them, just--"

"NO! Don't you dare tell me to come back! I am saving him. I am saving Hunk!" 

"Lance that's suicide!" 

"I've told him I'd die for him before, why should I go back on my word?!" 

 

It was like watching a movie about your life. It was like witnessing all your mistakes placed out in front of you on a Powerpoint slideshow. It hurt to watch, it made Hunk feel weak with how he was just laying inside of Yellow crying and trying so desperately to calm himself down but failing _miserably_. Lance felt weak as well, but for the mere reason of how he was freaking out and not calmly dealing with the situation.  

They watched as Lance tried to barrel through all the droids and get Hunk free. They watched the tears as Lance screamed for Hunk and swore his life oh him, they watched as Hunk fell apart mentally thinking that he was going to die. And then, out of nowhere, they resonated words: 

 

"I will not die here. I will not die without telling him that I love him one more time." They both said. 

 

Lance's hand intertwined with Hunks as he recalled everything, it seeming as more of a faint memory of something stupid he did (which it was). 

"You can stop it now..." Lance said clearing his throat trying to not cry at the emotions that were displayed out in front of him. Coran did as Lance requested and then looked saddened at the realization that those videos made the two cry. 

"Well..... I had a meltdown..." Hunk tried to laugh it off as he looked to the ground feeling as if all eyes were on him

"Are you kidding me? I was in hysterics!" Lance mocked himself

"I know, you were kind of ridiculous." Hunk smiled and used his hand to wipe away his tears and looked at Lance who was doing the same. Lance then yawned a big yawn and rubbed his eyes

"I think it's time we all had some good sleep for once, don't you?" Allura said, her face appeared to be relieved that the two were safe. 

"Are you sure, Princess?" Shiro asked 

"We'll ask them about _it_ in the morning. They've been through enough for now." Allura smiled as she shooed Hunk and Lance out of the main bridge and down the hallway that leads them to their room. 

Lance and Hunk just held hands as they walked down the hallway, when to their room they closed and locked the door. 

"We should probably take our armor off," Lance said groaning and his stiffness that he just realized. Hunk was ahead of him by almost a mile. He was already down to his black under suite and almost out of that too. Lance wanted to make a comment, he wanted to say something, to go touch Hunk, to so anything. But he decided to just take his own armor off and then put his PJ's on. 

Hunk got into his yellow pajamas slower than he got out of the armor. His mind was filled with the pain he was in both emotionally and physically. He buttoned up the shirt and turned around, he walked to the bed and slid under the covers, the comfort of the bed like a song that Lance had once taught him. Beautiful and tantalizing. Hunk looked over to Lance, who was putting together his fancy pajamas this time, his robe being dismissed, though. Lance slid in beside Hunk and hugged their bodies close. 

"What's wrong?" Lance asked as he pressed his head to Hunk's chest and let out a comforting sigh

"Nothing and everything," Hunk said 

"Do you want to be more specific?" Lance asked hugging him tighter.

"Sure." Hunk said, moving Lance around so that Hunk was holding Lance like a little spoon and nuzzled the back of Lance's neck with his nose. He let out a warm breath making Lance shiver a little under his grasp. "I am nervous that they are going to ask why I was freaking out, I mean did you see how Pidge reacted to seeing us in the first place, and then her face while the videos were being played back? She was practically traumatized." 

"Hunk," Lance said placing his hands over Hunk's (which were around him so securely) "You don't have to tell them. They don't have to know--" 

"I...I think they need to know Lance. In order for us to be a better team, for us to form Voltron-"

"No. Stop." Lance said raising a hand and searching for Hunks face to pinch "Voltron is the last thing we need to worry about. Each individual person who pilots the lions is the first concern. Voltron will be formed in time, but we need to heal the wounds of the past few days in order to even think about Voltron." 

"Look at you," Hunk said laughing against Lance's nape of his neck " _You_ lecturing _me_ about being calm." Hunk smiled into Lance's neck

"Now, close your eyes and fall asleep. I'm going nowhere. Ok?" To Lance's question Hunk shook his head up and down "Night, I'll see you in the morning." 

"Good night, Lance. I love you so much." 

"I love you too, Hunk. I love you too." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can contact me on Tumblr if you need me @enhance-ao3. Again sorry about not updating Friday!


	13. Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In physical pain and still recovering from the mental trauma, Hunk and Lance go to consult their fellow teammates. But what happens if they ask about why he had a meltdown?

_Pull me closer._

_Love me._

_Never let me go._

_Tell me my name several times._

_Tell me what I mean to you. Whisper nothingness into my ear until I fall asleep._

_Hold me._

_Wrap your legs around me and suffocate me in your smell._

 

"Hunk," Lance's voice swayed it's tune into Hunk's ears. Lance placed his hand on Hunk's shoulder trying to wake him up as gently as possible (the two having the best rest that they have had in a long time. "Hunk, Babe, it's time to get up." 

Hunk's eyes lazily focused on Lance's figure. Hunk smiled a small smiled and with a croaky voice he said, "What a wonderful way to wake up,~" Lance laughed at his still half-asleep man. He bent down and kissed him tenderly on the forehead with a very quiet 'I love you, too'. His presence then left Hunk and headed to the bathroom in order to freshen up. 

They both clung to each other all night, their arms never unwrapping from the other's body. They were too elated to finally be able to hold each other in such a way that was hidden from the eyes of others, that they could be slightly handsy and just be happy about it and love every moment of it. That they could messily kiss and Hunk could wash all his terrible memories with the scent of Lance, the very very very strong scent of his Lance. 

Hunk closed his eyes in order to make sure that this was reality and not a dream within a dream within a hallucination. Hunk smiled remembering everything that happened and condemning himself for freaking out so much to make his team look as horrified as they did yesterday. Hunk's mind went to horrified expressions and Iverson was implanted in his brain. His eye squinting at him, his mouth stuck in an eternal frown, and his body stiff and disgusted. Hunk sat up and laughed a little, the expression itself terrifying but the reasoning behind it was the reason he laughed. 

"Hunk?" Lance walked out, his face mask freshly off and his body smelling refreshed and awake

"I just got the thought of Iverson in my head." Hunk put his hands over his face as he brushed his hair back slightly moving the headband upward. 

"And you're laughing at that?"

"No, I'm laughing at why." Hunk stood up and walked over to Lance. With one hand Hunk grabbed Lance's hand and the other found its place situated on Lance's cheek. Hunk smiled wide and with a light blush he slowly kissed Lance with closed eyes. They both separated from the kiss and Hunk pretended to look worried and forced his voice to crack "I can't believe we just did that!! What if someone saw us??!" 

Lance was confused for a second as to why Hunk was pretending to be nervous but then it clicked "OH MY GOSH!!" Lance began laughing "Our first date!!" 

"Right." Hunk smiled.

 

Their first date. They both had snuck out of the Garrison to go eat out, Hunk was very nervous because of the deal (but they did say he needed one other person with him and Lance counted in his book). It took them a little over a half an hour to get out without being seen. Lance had mastered this several times before and now he was showing Hunk just how to leave and not be seen.

That's not the issue at hand, though.

So, the two snuck out and had an amazing time (once Hunk calmed down). They walked back to the Garrison, two hours after curfew, and as a parting gift Hunk finally kissed Lance. Hunk had a small freak out and worried about the others seeing them--to which Iverson had. Iverson was LIVID and put Hunk in remedial classes for the rest of the quarter.

But to both of them, it was worth it.

 

"Man, was Iverson PISSED!" Lance laughed as he thought about it

A knock came to their door followed by Shiro's voice "When you two are ready can you come to the dining room?" 

"We'll be there shortly," Hunk replied as he nudged Lance to hurry up and 'beautify' himself (even though Hunk already thinks Lance is the most beautiful person in the entire universe). Hunk was finally able to put on his normal clothing, it was somewhat refreshing to smell his clothes as he put them on. He slowly ran his hands over his green vest as he smiled wide and put it on. He shoved his feet into his boots at about the same time Lance came running out of the bathroom mumbling to himself to hurry up. Hunk watched as his man ran back and forth talking to himself and looking slightly worried as he did so. When Lance stopped to start to get dressed Hunk decided to take the bathroom while it was open, he got in and began to brush his teeth and fiddle with his hair. They were ready in a few minutes and out of the room in a couple seconds after. They held hands as they walked down the hall to the dining room where everyone sat surrounding two empty seats. Lance let out a worried breath as they sat down surrounded by everyone. 

Their hands separating. 

"It's so good to see everyone!" Hunk cheerfully said smiling, as if trying to dim down the semi-hostile air around them

"How did you two sleep last night?" Allura asked looking at the two passionately, her emotions elated to have them safely home

"Good." Hunk smiled as him and Lance said 'Good' together. Hunk then looked at Allura seriously "I know that you guys had it tough, though." They all looked at him surprised "With your reactions to the 'video' last night how could I not figure that out." 

"It is true that we had our hard times," Allura said, "But we are more worried for you, Hunk." 

"When we replayed the video from the helmets for the first time we all almost passed out," Shiro began "none of us could think of why you were so distraught and that is what got us all the more worried for you." Hunk knew where this was going now, he knew that they were going to ask about it..... Hunk just thought to himself that he wished they weren't so curious. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you freak out?" 

"..." Hunk looked to the table, obviously not wanting to say anything

"Hunk...." Lance let out a sigh as he rubbed Hunks back "You don't have to tell them, okay?" 

"Thank you all for worrying about me," Hunk said trying to stifle the sudden urge to cry "I was just reminded of a time in my past, that is all." He tried to smile, but everyone knew it was a painful smile that he forced

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Pidge asked, obviously afraid for her friend

"No, it's in the past." Lance said a little sharply, but also trying his best to calm down

Hunk moved his hand to Lance's thigh, "It's about..... _Victor_." The room halted, Allura and Coran were confused while Shiro, Pidge, and Keith just glanced at Hunk wide-eyed

"What does  _Victor_ have to do with you?" Keith questioned angrily

"Who **is** Victor?" Allura asked

"Victor is a narcissistic asshole--"

"Keith!" Shiro cut him off

"It's true, though!" Keith fought back "Back on Earth, Victor was known for attacking innocent people and killing them, he destroyed the Garrison base several times, and because of him (and his brigade of teen delinquents) there were several rules put in place and there was a whole curriculum taught so that none of us would turn out like him."

"He sounds awful." Allura commented

"You are right about all those things, Keith," Hunk said looking up to Keith's angry beyond measure eyes, with a hint of confusion and concern washing around in them "but you forgot one main detail."

"Oh? What's that?" Keith questioned a little offended 

"Victor is my older brother." 

The room went silent as everyone took in what Hunk said. Keith and Shiro shot glances at each other as if to make sure that they both heard the lovable Hunk correctly. 

"You are telling us," Shiro said leaning on his elbows as he pressed closer to Hunk a little "to believe that that  _monster_ is your brother?"

Hunk found it funny, a little, that they still referred to Victor as a monster even though they fight against Zarkon, a man who is much more of a monster. 

"I am. Victor is my older brother." Hunk tried to not cringe at the sound of  _his_ name rolling off his tongue so much

"I am not sure why you are telling us this," Allura said, "Did something significant happen to make you that saddened?" 

"Victor was caught." Pidge intervened (finally) "He and his whole group were found and caught." 

"But for some reason they let Victor go and had the other three pay for his crimes." Keith said through his teeth

"That was... because of me." Hunk said making them all even more on edge

"WHAT?!" Keith snarled

"Just listen to him, okay?" Lance stood up to defend Hunk

"You knew?!" Keith questioned horrified

"I only learned recently, but this doesn't change who Hunk is. Hunk is Hunk, no matter who his family is!" Lance almost screamed "It's like if we were to find out one of us was really of alien descent, we are still us! Our family--or lack there of--shouldn't define us!" 

"Alright, everyone take a breath." Shiro said putting his hands up, he waited for the two to sit down before he spoke again "Hunk, why don't you continue??"

"Well.... As you guys know, Victor was captured along with the others. But..." Hunk wheezed out a sigh and tried to hold back his tears as he had to tell the story yet again--and hopefully for the last time-- "One of the members was killed before the Garrison even loaded him into the transport vehicles. He was the brains behind getting Victor and the others out of trouble and in order for him to not be able to do that he was killed. Then they loaded us all on the vehicles, separating Victor and me in hopes to get him on edge. It worked. When we got to the Garrison they began to interrogate me...... they asked for a deal."

"A deal?" Shiro asked, his face flooded with concern

"The deal entailed that I belonged to the Garrison for life--I think, I can't really remember the amount of time--and I was to be in special classes and intense training so that I would never become what Victor was--is." Hunk turned his gaze to Shiro then to Keith and finally he landed on Pidge for a second before looking at the table. "It was more of a threat than a deal. If I didn't comply Victor and I would've been killed along with everyone else. So I accepted the deal without hesitation in order to keep Victor safe." 

"You don't have to keep going," Lance said moving Hunk's hair behind his ear a little as he looked longingly at Hunk

"They need to know, Lance." Hunk choked up 

"Okay. Okay. Okay." Lance placed his hand on Hunk's shoulder

"To prove a point the Garrison tortured me and then presented me to Victor. They told Victor that we were free to go but to be warned. Victor and I headed home after that.....but...... not really." Hunk let out a long breath as a single tear finally escaped the corner of his eye. "Victor decided to take me to an empty lot" Hunk was noticeably avoiding Chance's name, Lance thought that this could be the importance of Chance or the similarities in his and Chance's name (but he was unsure why Hunk wasn't naming him). "I have no idea how long Victor had me there.... but every day.... every single day..." Hunk just let the tears go, his face puffy and looking really pitiful

"Hunk, I'm so sorry...." Shiro said, not wanting those vile words to come out of Hunk's mouth. 

Everyone broke seeing Hunk like that, no one wanted to see Hunk as a puddle of goo sobbing into Lance's shoulder and shaking as he let all of it out. They all regretted wanting to know why Hunk was so scared, they all wished that they weren't as curious as they were. 

Lance walked Hunk back to the room, but not without a 'We-are-talking-about-this-when-he's-out' look at the other as they left the dining room. They had made it back in no time, Hunk a complete mess but he was doing better. Lance set him on the bed where he just sat. 

"I am so proud of you, Hunk." Lance said kneeling down and looking up to his man

"I.... I..."

"Shh, you don't have to talk right now. I'm right here." Lance grabbed both of Hunk's hands in his own

"Lance," Hunk said nudging his head on his shoulder so that he wouldn't disturb their hands perfectly connected

"Yes?"

"Can we do it?" 

"Do what?" Lance asked with a smile 

" _It_." Hunk nervously asked

"No." Lance said strongly after no time to think "And before you ask why, I'll tell you, ok?" Lance stared into Hunk's eyes "I love our relationship the way it is right now. I love you so much, and don't get me wrong I've thought about us doing it several times, but I think that you need more time to heal."

"Lance, it took me like 7 years to be able to think about dating someone!" Hunk looked away

"And--hey--" Lance forced Hunk's gaze back "If it takes you 10 more years to be able to do it I'll still be here. Hell, if it takes until the day we die for you to tell me that you are actually comfortable with the idea of having sex, I'll be right there beside you. Sex doesn't define a relationship, the emotion inside the relationship is what makes the relationship true and whole." 

"Are you sure that you are okay with me the way I am?" Hunk questioned

"Where did that come from?" Lance stood up slightly and kissed Hunk's trembling lips "Hunk if you weren't in my life--I would bet all the churros in the world-- that we wouldn't have even found the blue lion, heck I doubt I would've wandered up to see Pidge and find Shiro." Lance looked at him lovingly "I'd bet good money that it was all because of you that I've become a better person. Hunk, you've made me into the person I am today. I am more than okay with you how you are, alright?" 

"I love you so much, Lance." Hunk yawned

"I love you too, now just chill here and rest. I'll be back in a little."

"Where are you going?" Hunk asked as he laid on top of the covers

Lance kissed the top of Hunk's nose "Truth, I'm going to go talk to the team about bringing up your past; Lie, I'm going to go ask Coran for a space cookbook so I can make you some space jam." 

Hunk laughed a little "Have fun making space jam~" 

"I will. Love you." Lance said as he left out the door. As soon as the door shut Hunk situated himself and looked up to the ceiling. He laughed at how Lance was acting at how perfect Lance is and that he didn't deserve Lance at all. Hunk turned to look at Lance's side of the bed, he placed his hand over where Lance's sleeping face would be and he said,

"Love you too, Lance." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. We are coming up to the end (though I'm not sure how close but it is close). Thank you all for reading!!


	14. Our Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance stops at the closed door of his and Hunk room. He regrets not letting Hunk do it with him..... did he make the right choice?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any words with a '*' will be explained at the bottom.

It was the hardest thing for him to say no to. It came so naturally, like instinct. He knew that they would both regret rushing into it. He knew that it was a bad idea to emotionally go into something as important as their first time together sexually. Lance was afraid. Lance had waited for Hunk for so long, Lance had wanted Hunk for so long. Lance even had letters back in his home (and at the Garrison) under his bed addressed to his 'Future Partner' because there were just those nights that he needed to let all his emotions on paper.

Lance sat out in the hallway. He faced his room not wanting to go to talk to the others right now, he knew that he would explode at them for bringing up Hunk's past so casually. Lance held his knees to his chest and buried his head in the comfort of his own knees as he rested adjacent to his room.

As Lance closed his eyes he remembered the day he came out to his family as Bisexual. He didn't know why that memory came flooding back, but it made him smile. His whole family reacted the same way everyone (except him) reacted to when Pidge came out as a girl. It warmed Lance's heart that they all accepted him and that they all still loved him with all their hearts. He had been dreading on telling them for days not wanting to, but when he did they all smiled. His eldest brother brought him into a head lock and messed with his hair, and after a good laugh, they all happily joined for lunch. But then Lance's mind turned and twisted. His mind tasted of bittersweet candy. He remembered when he told them he was dating Hunk. He was so excited to tell them that he was finally dating someone and was in a real relationship. He told them all week that he had something big to tell them on the weekend. But when he made the reveal that he was dating Hunk, his best friend, they all had sour faces. They all told him that he had to choose someone else. That he couldn't, just couldn't, be dating Hunk. 

As Lance looked back on it, he fit all the pieces together. His family was worried that Hunk was like Victor, like his brother, and that Lance would be dragged into _that_ world too. They told him to find a new man (or woman) because they didn't think "Dating your best friend is a good idea" (or so they used as an excuse)..... now that Lance knows what happened to Hunk he knows why his family had such a sour response to him dating Hunk. 

Lance let out a sigh as he remembered that. He tried to think of other things, tried to remember the first time they kissed in front of the team, the first time they held hands after a mission, the first time Hunk brought up marriage, the first time the team began to coo and 'awe' at them, the first time they shared a room...... Lance remembered the first night sharing a room all too well.

"Lance?" Keith's voice poked at Lance's ears. Lance looked up to see Keith in his normal attire and appearing to be fresh out of the training deck

"Hey."

"What are you doing?" 

"Just letting Hunk have some alone time to himself. I was thinking about coming down and lecturing Shiro about making Hunk bring up his past, but I just decided to reminisce about our past instead." Lance didn't really know why he was letting his heart out to Keith, but Keith was the closest to his age other than Hunk, Keith knows what it feels like to be alone and be worried. To be left and possibly forgotten. So maybe he could just vent to Keith, maybe he could pass on some of his joys to Keith to take and smile with. 

"I..." Keith sat beside Lance, looking at the ceiling rather than at Lance "I'm not sure how to put this, so I'm just going to say it. I am surprised that Hunk is Victor's younger brother..... I don't know Hunk that well, but from Shiro's stories I know Victor quite well." Keith let out a small sigh "I just....Hunk is always happy, you know? I just never thought of him as a victim but more of a....I don't know...."

"I understand where you are coming from, Keith." Lance smiled "When Hunk told me I was shocked, but he's still him. His past with his brother shaped into the amazing man he is today. I wouldn't want Hunk to be any other way than he is right now." Lance smiled and laughed a little "I love him so much." 

"We all know that. Especially this morning when you stood up for him the first time." 

"That wasn't the first time!"

"You've never been that coarse with us before." 

"Do you remember when I asked Allura if I could share a room with Hunk?" 

"Oh right. How could I forget...?" Keith looked at Lance

"I was so flustered because she put him on the other side of the castle. I was really stern with her...." Lance smiled

"Well when you came in and swore the second you walked in, we all were caught off guard."

"Well--!!" Lance said exasperated trying to create a defense "I wanted to share a room....for a really long time actually.... but the Garrison was extremely homophobic and my family would never allow me to live with someone who wasn't my husband or wife."

"But it's okay now?" 

"What?"

"It's okay now to share a room with him, now that you're not on earth?" Lance just looked at Keith, his expression neutral and not appearing to be purposefully demeaning

"I....I don't care anymore. I love Hunk so much, my family's opinion of that can go eat a Monkshood*, for all I care." 

"Eat a what?" 

"Never mind..." Lance said with a small smile

There was a small silence between the two and Lance actually enjoyed the feeling of Keith right beside him. It reminded him a little of the dream-thing when he and Keith bonded, and he was a little sad that he had not kept that bond to here. But sadly after a while longer Keith stood up and stated that he was going to go hit the showers, Lance had a smart-ass response but decided to keep it to himself for the time being. With a parting gesture, Keith signaled to Lance the direction of the training deck,

"Shiro might still be there if you want to go still lecture him that is." Keith then turned left and was out of Lance's site. Lance thought really hard about whether or not he wanted to go talk to Shiro or not.

With him standing and his legs moving on their own, he assumed that his body was telling him that he had to go confront Shiro about what happened this morning. 

He took the long way around the castle. The way that took him an extra 10 minutes. 

As Lance walked he tried to gather his thoughts. He tried to come up with a way to talk to Shiro but in the end, Lance just thought about the past. How it was Shiro who pointed out that the two were holding hands after their third or fourth mission and they both were really flustered. Hunk tried to explain to them that they were a couple but he was breaking in and out of actual speech and into gibberish (literally, he mumbled and fumbled his words around so much it didn't sound like any known language). Hunk confessed that he was worried about what the team would think if they knew of Lance and his relationship, but in the end, the team excepted them. 

Lance thought of the time when they went to a planet and on that planet holding hands signified marriage. So when they instinctively held hands on the planet the race asked them how their wedding was, who was there, and if a Human wedding was any different than their type of wedding. They had to explain to them that holding hands was just a romantic gesture or a gesture of guidance. However, when they reached back onto the ship Hunk gushed and gooed about a wedding. He said that the colors would HAVE to be color coded with Yellow and Blue. But they would throw everyone off and instead of lighting candles to signify their promise to each other (as most weddings do) or the sand combination, that they would switch ties and tie each others onto the other. That there would be enough cake for two Galra armadas. That Shay would be his Best woman and Rax his Best man. That they would have the wedding on a Balmera fresh with crystals because the first time he saw a Balmera and their crystals he actually began to cry. Hunk went on and on for hours about their wedding, the details, and everything, as the two were in a tight embrace. Lance remembered how hopeful and excited Hunk's face was due to him talking about them being bonded in such a way. 

Lance laughed as he remembered when they kissed in front of the team because damn it was a close call for both of them. Hunk just rushed over and kissed Lance when they were both out of their lions, not even thinking. What brought them back to their senses was Pidge's hooting and weird squeaking noises, Keith's 'get a room', and Shiro's silence of approval. They separated and were extremely embarrassed but more so at the volume of approval from Pidge then anything. 

Lance turned the corner and passed the control room. He thought back to when he burst in and demanded to share a room with Hunk. A room with a big bed and a view. He got the big bed part of the deal, but the view wasn't possible sense Coran's was the only one with a view and he wasn't going to give that up even for Allura. Then Lance thought of how excited he was, he rushed right over to Hunks room (which was forever and a day away--or so it felt). He rapped on the door aggressively and excitingly told Hunk the news. Hunk was more shocked that Lance had demanded this from the Princess more than them sharing a room...... or that was until that following night when they were actually going to share a bed together.

_"Are you sure about this Lance?" Hunk asked as he stayed stiff in his Paladin Armor_

_"I'm more than sure, come on Hunk!" Lance encouraged as he began to take off his armor "It's not like we haven't seen each other get undressed before. We did have gym on the same days._

_"Ya....but this time I can touch you..." Hunk mumble to himself_

_"What?"_

_"NOTHING!!" Hunk quickly got out of his armor and his black suit. He got into his pajamas and then looked to the giant bed that they were allowed to have. Hunk thought that the whole team could fit on it with ease (not comfy, but with ease at the least)._

_"You coming in?" Lance asked as he got under the covers_

_"We are really doing this?" Hunk asked as he shakily walked over_

_"I won't do anything to you." Lance smiled, but what he was going to do to Hunk was not what Hunk was worried about at the time._

_They were about a Pidge width apart. Enough to hold hands but not much more. Lance was a little sad that it wasn't more intimate but as the night progressed and Hunk got sleepier he got closer to Lance and made him a little spoon._

Lance just couldn't get over Hunk's reaction when he awoke to see that they were in a very close embrace, Lance curled up with his nose in Hunk's chest and Hunk's arms numbingly around Lance's body. Hunk not-so-gracefully got out of bed, waking Lance and rushed into their personal bathroom to get dressed. Lance laughed at how off Hunk was for the whole day. 

 

Lance made it to the training deck. He heard Shiro grunting and hitting something inside. But before Lance could confront Shiro he had to make sure that he was okay, so in a passive way Lance found his path to the little bubble room that overlooked the training deck. Lance was shocked to see Shiro laying on the ground topless huffing and buffing, his brows practically fused together in such raw anger. Lance was a little set off to see Shiro in such a state. 

"Damn!" Shiro said hitting his Galra tech arm onto the training decks floor as he moved to his knees. Lance wanted to ask Shiro if everything was alright, seeing his leader like this was very unsettling and Lance just wanted now (instead of punching him) to bring him into a hug. "Why did that name have to follow us up here?" Shiro wearily got up on his heavily shaking legs. Lance swallowed hard as he ran back, he ran down to the training deck. He had to confront Shiro about this. 

He knew he was cursing Victor, he knew he was cursing Hunk's brother.....Hunk's abuser. 

Lance opened the training deck doors. Shiro swiveled his head quickly and looked at Lance wide-eyed. 

"Lance?!" Shiro put his fists to his side in a limp manner.

"Shiro...." Lance walked in, the doors closing behind him. He folded his hands behind his back just in case Shiro wanted to lash out and punch him (he knew the feeling, it only escaped him not even a minute ago). 

"Lance!" Shiro ran to Lance but instead of punching him in a jumble of emotions Shiro hugged onto Lance. His arms almost crushing Lance in their slightly fatherly grip.

"Keith said you were in here--"

"I am so sorry, Lance!" Shiro interrupted him, "I didn't know that Hunk's past was.....was _Victor_. I-I didn't know. I am so sorry that I brought it up. I...." 

"Shiro," Lance wrapped his hands around Shiro, "Hunk wouldn't have answered if he didn't trust you guys enough. Hunk has been dealing with it his whole life and he knew that we all were effected by Victor, I think out of all of us he was the most afraid." Lance smiled slightly

"I can't believe you, Lance," Shiro said happily as he separated from Lance 

"What do you mean?" 

"You're so much more mature than when you were captured." 

"I'm more than just bad pick up lines and a nice body, Shiro." Lance laughed, "Plus to you guys we were gone about a week, but the Galra made Hunk and I live out over two months in a hallucination." 

"Hallucination?" Shiro questioned

"Right, we haven't told you guys about that yet...." Lance breathed in through his teeth making a noise sounding like that of a snake's slither or a kitten's hiss. Lance scratched the nape of his neck as he thought about telling Shiro "We were just plunged into a world we thought was our own. That's it, we don't have to go into detail." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I don't really know myself. I know that one second I thought Hunk was in a coma and the next I was on a Galra space ship. I really don't want to talk about it...." Lance said calmly "Oh, I forgot to do this," Lance lightly, and in slow motion, punched Shiro. 

"What was that for?" 

"For bringing up the past. You're lucky I took the long way around to gather my thoughts. Otherwise, I would've socked you right in the jaw!!" Lance joked making both him and Shiro laugh. "I'm going to go check on Hunk and see if he's up for picking a planet for a date." 

"You know we can't just stop for you two to go on a date, right?" Shiro smiled

"I know. But we can go to the simulation room and pretend we are there." Lance smiled as he left the room. As Lance left the training deck a loud, ear piercing scream stabbed it's way into his ears, a scream that he wanted to never hear again, a cry for help that was all too familiar, a plea that echoed even in an echoless room. 

Hunk's voice shook the castle as it shrieked in pure agony, "LANCE!!!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Monkshood is a flower known as "The Queen of all Poisons" and ingestion of even a small amount will give you severe gastrointestinal upset [You will be very gassy, stomach ache, have nausea, and will vomit] but it is the effect on the heart (where it causes slowing of the heart rate) which is often the cause of death. So basically Lance is saying that his families opinions can go die. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I am still unsure of when this book will end but I'm going to keep it going for now. It might end at 20 chapters but we will see how the next few go. Thanks again and if you need to contact me you can find me @enhance-ao3 on Tumblr.


	15. What is happening to us?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underlined words or paragraphs are dream thoughts or conversations.

Hunk smiled as he closed his eyes and fell to sleep. His body enveloping in the comfort of his bed. He had been here not two hours prior but he still felt exhausted after telling the team about his past. He felt like he just wanted to wrap up in his blanket and not come out. Hunk yawned as he curled up on the bed, his body feeling heavy and the rest of him slowly falling asleep as he thought about what his life with Lance would be now that he knows. Hunk was about to fall into a deep, well needed, sleep just as he began to hear mumbling outside of his door. Hunk moved to go tell whoever was out there to leave, but as he got closer to the door he noticed that it was Lance's voice followed by Keith's. 

"I..." Keith's voice began as some rummaging was then heard, Hunk figured that he had sat beside Lance or something "I'm not sure how to put this, so I'm just going to say it. I am surprised that Hunk is Victor's younger brother..... I don't know Hunk that well, but from Shiro's stories I know Victor quite well." a small sigh followed Keiths words "I just....Hunk is always happy, you know? I just never thought of him as a victim but more of a....I don't know...."

Hunk placed his hand on his door as he realized that it was going to happen again. He was going to see  _those_ eyes, hear  _that_ tone, and feel  _that_ presence. Hunk wanted anything but _that_...... especially from his team. 

 "I understand where you are coming from, Keith." Hunk twitched at Lance's answer, "When Hunk told me I was shocked, but he's still him. His past with his brother shaped him into the amazing man he is today. I wouldn't want Hunk to be any other way than he is right now." A laugh followed, "I love him so much." Hunk slid down the wall right beside the door, Lance's quiet laughs were to die for. They made him happy and feel free. 

"We all know that. Especially this morning when you stood up for him the first time." 

"That wasn't the first time!" Lance seemed to try to defend himself 

"You've never been that coarse with us before." 

"Do you remember when I asked Allura if I could share a room with Hunk?" 

Hunk tried to hold back a cackle as he remembered that day.

On that day they were all assigned their rooms, officially, Hunk was chilling out in his room fiddling with some of the flowers that Lance had taken from a few planets. Hunk laughed as Lance's elated tone rushed into his ears before the rapping of his fist resonated on the door. Hunk opened the door to a semi-clothed, blushing, overly excited Lance.

_"Guess. What!!!!!"_

_"Oh I can only imagine~" Hunk laughed_

_"We get to share a room!!"_

_"....!!" Hunk looked to Lance, both their eyes widened with wonder "You're kidding right?"_

_"Why would I be kidding about something so wonderful!!" Lance smiled wide_

_"C-c-can.... can we even do that??"_

_"Of course!! Now grab your stuff and bring it to OUR new room!!"_

 

"It's okay now to share a room with him, now that you're not on earth?" Keith's question brought Hunk's mind back. Hunk worried for a second before Lance answered

"I....I don't care anymore. I love Hunk so much, my family's opinion of that can go eat a Monkshood, for all I care."

"Eat a what?" Keith questioned to Lance's terminology

"Never mind..." Lance said then triggering a silence. Hunk thought it was nice, the silence that is, and he smiled to himself as Lance and Keith were talking like friends talk, that they were opening to each other a little more. The silence seemed to get uncomfortable on the other side of the door. One of the two stood up and began to walk,

"Shiro might still be there if you want to go still lecture him, that is." Keith's voice said, it's positing different than where it was before. Hunk then heard Lance get up from his position and begin to walk in the opposite direction then Keith. 

Hunk stayed on the ground, yes he was tired but for some odd reason, he was also really comfortable right where he was. Hunk closed his eyes and fell asleep right on the floor. 

Hunks dream consisted of scenery from Earth, the beautiful blue and slightly green oceans, the breathtaking mountains, the feeling of Lance leaning his head on his shoulder as he smelled the scent of seaweed and his man mixing in the same atmosphere. Hunk smiled. But his thoughts began to tear apart his dream. 

"I don't care anymore. My family's thoughts about you are nothing more than what they think." Lance's voice infiltrated, this shown just like the past when they were talking about their relationship. Lance had gone crying his eyes out to Hunk the Monday after he told his family about him and Hunk dating, he told Hunk that he wasn't allowed to date him due to his family being against Hunk for some reason. But Lance still wanted to date him, he just couldn't put a 'real' label on it, so to speak (not that they were allowed to in the Garrison anyway).

"Lance, in the end, it's your life. Live it how you want and never regret a choice you made. Life is worth living to the fullest, so who are we to walk on egg shells around our life?" Hunk wished that he hadn't said that back then. He hated who he was. Who he became. Who Victor had forced him to become.

In the past and more so in the present he had come to hate the him that he had become. The man that his father would probably hate and despise, the child that his mother would (and did) ignore and push. Hunk was then reminded of the time that his mother encouraged death, that she might've (slightly) secretly encouraged it. Hunk tried to force the dream to not go down that road, he was winning for a little until he remembered that he tried _**it**_. 

 

It was two days before his eighth birthday, he was saved from Victor's terrible grasp only 12 hours ago and released from the hospital 2 hours ago. He locked himself in his room still soaked from taking such a long sobbing shower, he curled in his bed the covers encasing him in his sorrow. His door handle giggled and when entrance into his room was forbidden his mother's voice called

"I brought you something to eat...." Her voice was changed, she was the one that saved Hunk. She was the one who saw him in the raw state of discourse. She was the one to shoot Victor in the knee cap with a blood churning scream and call the Garrison Police. She was the one to turn around and leave Hunk tied up and open for the Garrison Police to do as they please (thankfully they did no more than cut him down, wrap him up in a blanket, and take him to the hospital to get all cleaned up and checked out). 

"Not hungry....." Hunk said in a low tone. "I'm never eating again."

"I'm going to kick down the door if you don't open it." She said, her voice not leaving the low tone that it was. Hunk got up and unlocked the door, not soon after he ran back to his bed. His mother placed the food on his bed stand and then sat on the side of his bed. "Maybe...." His mother took a breath "Maybe it would be better for you--for everyone-- if you were to take your own life."

 

"LANCE!"

Hunk jumped up at the sound of his own voice shaking the castle with a shrill of deprivation and panic. He wiped the tears that were streaming down his cheeks away and wrinkled his brows and looked around for a second, he wasn't the one to call out.... but that was definitely his voice. Hunk rubbed his tired, puffy, eyes and stood up.

"What was that?" He asked himself as he then exited the room and began to walk around, he wasn't that far from his room when he heard Lance's calls

"HUNK!" Lance was sprinting behind him, with Shiro not far either "Hunk, is everything alright??" 

"Ya, that wasn't me." Hunk said, just as confused as the other two "I mean, it was me, but..... like not recently." 

"I'm sorry Paladins!" Allura's voice came over the intercom system "Could you all please come here, we have something to show you." 

"What?" Lance questioned confused

"It must've been the recording from when we were fighting the Galra before you guys were taken." Shiro said in a calm voice, happy that Hunk was okay "Let's go see what the Princess has found." Shiro began to walk towards the front of the ship. When the other two didn't budge Shiro realized that they may need some alone time, "I guess I'll tell her that you two will be a little late" he added then leaving the two behind. 

Lance waited for Shiro to be out of hearing distance before he spoke to Hunk. 

"Are you sure that you are okay?" Lance asked, trying to not be obvious that he was eyeing the bags under Hunk's eyes nor the redness in his cheeks or scratch in his throat (as if Hunk had been crying from the moment that Lance had left him).

"I'm fine," Hunk smiled coughing trying to clear his throat

"Hunk, you can tell me!"

"Lance, I'm fine, really." Hunk said again not wanting to tell Lance about the memory he just had. Hunk suddenly felt a pair of hands encase his face

"Do. Not. Lie. To. Me." Lance scolded "I know that you aren't okay. I know that there is something bothering you. You were crying weren't you?"

"I've got it under control--"

"Hunk, no," Lance interrupted "Rely on me more!"

"Lance I love you, but I have to do this on my own--"

"NO YOU DONT!" Lance yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice becoming rough and agitated "Your logic doesn't make any sense! You've always done things on your own. You've always felt that I couldn't help you because I didn't understand what you were feeling. That's all true, but Hunk I want you to rely on me more, I need you to rely on me. That's how a relationship works. I vent to you and then, in turn, you vent to me!" Lance fought back tears as his voice seemed to be fading with each lectured word.

"Lance...." Hunk felt bad but he also didn't want to rely on Lance. Hunk thought that he could internalize the emotions again and hope that when he explodes that Lance wouldn't be around. He didn't want Lance to know that his own mother told him to kill himself, and he also didn't want Lance to know that he had tried it..... for years. Hunk lost count of how many times.... All Hunk wanted Lance to know was that he loved him, he felt that Lance knew too much already. 

"I know you went through hell in the hallucination, being reminded of your past and having to go through that. You already told me that." Lance began, he seemed that he was about to tell Hunk something very important "But..... I had a hard time too. I wasn't going to tell you, because I didn't want you to think I was belittling your past, but listen." Lance removed his hands from Hunks face and put them in his pockets "I had two and a half months of relationship building with the others and now that's all gone. I bonded with them all, we all became close knit and we laughed and smiled. It was like nothing I thought I'd ever be able to feel with anyone other than you.... we finally felt like what a Voltron Paladin team should feel." Lance let out a shaking breath and let a tear drip from the corner of his eye.

"I'm sorry, Lance," Hunk said in a saddened tone

"I don't want you to be sorry!" Lance said bitterly "I.... I almost killed you, you know?" Lance looked away from Hunk

"What?" Hunk looked confused

"In our shared dream-hallucination-thing, you asked to be taken out of your misery 'please, end me', were your exact words." Lance began to cry "I almost did.... It hurt me to see you in pain, it hurt me to hear every word out of your mouth a plea for death.... it became too much one day and I pulled my blaster out and aimed it at your head. The middle is hazy, but I know that Shiro and Keith stopped me. They tried to comfort me, but in the end, they didn't know how. I went to Blue and vented my heart out, she decided to stay quiet..... that's when Pidge and I became really close. She was there. She knew what to say, she knew when to listen...." Lance couldn't bring himself to look at Hunk, he knew that his face was horrified "Pidge and I talked, we.... we figured that I...I almost killed you because I was _happy_..... I was happy that you were finally relying on me. I smiled as you called out my name and then broke out in a convulsing sob when you finished it with 'end me'." Lance began to shake, afraid of Hunk's next words

"Lance, I didn't know...."

"No, you didn't," Lance was pissed that Hunk didn't follow it up with what was on his own mind, so he continued, regretting where this conversation was going "and I wasn't going to tell you. But you see that's what this is!" Lance flailed his arms around accenting his rage "This is trust, this is me relying on you with the shit that I went through and this is me telling you that I love you." Lance let out an angry breath "Now promise me you can do the same, Hunk."

"Lance, I can't...."

"Can't or won't?"

"Lance....."

"Forget it Hunk!! I just..... HELL! I feel like I'm back at square on with all of them! I fell like I'm back to square one with you, Hunk! Stop pushing me away! Rely on me more! Or this relationship...... this re-re-relationship...." Lance stumbled to the words that he wanted to threaten "Hunk, I want us to have trust in our relationship, otherwise, this relationship is over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was out later in the day than I normally do! I don't really have an excuse, I just forgot to upload it. Hope you guys are liking the book so far!


	16. Seperation?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is happening to them? They were doing so good?  
> Will their relationship end here? Will the two be able to move on from where they are? Will Voltron ever be able to be formed again?

"Forget it Hunk!! I just..... HELL! I feel like I'm back at square on with all of them! I fell like I'm back to square one with you, Hunk! Stop pushing me away! Rely on me more! Or this relationship...... this re-re-relationship...." Lance stumbled to the words that he wanted to threaten "Hunk, I want us to have trust in our relationship, otherwise, this relationship is over." 

"Lance do not go there!" Hunk said in a croaking voice as he stepped back "I'm just..." Hunk let out a breath "We have to go and see what Allura found out."

"I am not leaving until we settle this." Lance said harshly "I don't want you to--"

"I'm not like you, Lance, okay?!?!?!?!" Hunk agonizingly called putting his hands on the sides of his head as he emphasized his discourse, "I can't just jump in and trust someone. I can't just do that. I.....I need time. I mean, yes I can trust people and yes I can love and adore people--but to an extent." 

"I feel like us dating for as long as we have should be ample time for you to trust me!" Lance retorted "I can't take it. Hunk we need to have a mutual understanding and I feel like that is lacking here. I feel like we were suddenly thrown back to the first day we met each other and you had that fake air around you. But I still fell in love with you! I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, I wanted you and me to be a couple."

"You didn't even know me!" 

"I KNOW!" Lance screamed shutting his eyes at the volume "I loved you-- and still love you-- because I knew that there was a connection to be had SOMEWHERE, but back then we didn't have it. We Bonded. We molded our relationship. We were always by each other, to the point where people thought we were dating before we even knew each other's feelings. It was us against the world but ever since you told me about your past I feel like we are against each other and I hate that feeling!" Lance began to cry heavily, his chest convulsing and he felt winded and tried to catch his breath. "My heart hurts so much right now......Like I feel so empty inside just talking about this. I hate this feeling so much. Hunk, I want this feeling gone. I want us to make up. I want us to be okay. I want you." Lance grabbed his chest, and shook in pain, he looked up to Hunk as his eyes were barely visible in the sea of tears and his skin paler than the sight of the moon from earth. 

"Lance, I want you too. You just have to realize that I can't open my whole heart to you just yet. There are still some things that I am working out with myself before I can stress you out with them. I....It hurts for me to think about them but I have to do this alone, I've always done it that way."

"But you don't have to do it alone!" Lance said "Hunk I....I feel like I don't know you anymore...." 

"Lance......" Hunk felt his heart palpitate in his chest at a runners pace as if he had just gotten off sprinting a 20-mile track. Hunk's breath became short "I....." He didn't want Lance to know that he's been struggling with many things in his past, he didn't want Lance to know how it felt to be betrayed by his own brother, he didn't want to tell Lance about the times he tried to take his own life, he never mentioned to Lance about when he was banned from the lunch room because the Garrison said that he was getting too fat for a cargo pilot who needs to get into tight places on the ship, he didn't want Lance to know that he hated himself so much that he thought about selling himself off just to get out of the Garrison, he didn't want Lance to know about anything else of his past........ he didn't want Lance to see him as he sees himself. "Lance....." Hunk choked "I'm such a terrible boyfriend...." He fell to his knees, his emotions making it hard for his body to control itself.

"No, you're not." Lance fell to the ground as well "I'm just so worried about you, I want to be able to help you." Lance sat criss-cross in front of Hunk 

"I am the worst, though..... I know all about your past and yet you only learned about mine yesterday (or whenever that was)." Hunk felt his heart pump out a sliver of hope, his mind decided to help slightly flashing a thought of a wedding with Lance, a thought of a domestic life with kids (at least 4) and a hopeful life out here in space where they can teach them life and they can return to earth whenever so that Lance can see his family and Hunk can watch as his Children get well rounded in the education of the universe. "Listen, Lance," Hunk said cupping his left hand around his right elbow in an awkward apologetic position "My past.... is not a happy one--as you know--and I would do anything for you...." Hunk decided that it was better to just tell him and get it out of the way. No matter how painful it is, Lance Murray, he was right there to comfort him if he needed it. It was time someone knew. "So, please hear everything before you freak out, ok?" 

"I'm all ears, Hunk," Lance said looking behind Hunk to see Keith and Shiro walking down the hallway. Lance shooed them away and when the two saw Hunk and Lance sitting on the ground, both with tears still running down their faces and their body's in sympathizing positions Keith and Shiro turned around,  leaving. 

"I....I was.... When I was saved from Victor my mother became cold and distant. She seemed more of a shell of a person than I was. It might've been that she lost her Husband and both of her sons too soon for her to cope, but her finding me like  _that_ also played a factor into it (I think). There were two days that I had mom to myself before the Garrison came and took me away--forcibly-- but we'll get to that later...." Hunk looked at Lance who was looking intently at Hunk as if waiting for the right moment to speak "When mom found me she called the Garrison Police and they came and got me, they took me to the hospital and had me do several tests. They all came back positive and that's when the Garrison police left me to go find Victor and charge him with rape, and a lot of other charges that I forget now. Mom took me from the hospital and brought me home. She left me to myself for a while but then she came to my room. She told me that it would be best for everyone if I killed myself." With a gasp from Lance, Hunk continued "The rest of the time I had with my mother she talked down to me, her eyes were dead whenever she looked at me and I felt like I lost my mother on the day she found me. Then the day came for the Garrison to come and get me, the day I turned eight.... my birthday." Hunk closed his eyes and tried to stop shaking "They knocked on the door and burst in without allowing mom to answer the door. They pushed her to the side and took me by the hair..... they dragged me away. I wanted to bring some stuff..... but they only allowed what I was wearing on my body. They then told me that all communication with my mother would be cut off until my 14th birthday, and then it would be minimal (about one visit per year). I got to the Garrison and in an attempt to make my mother happy the first night I tried to kill myself. I tried to hard...... but I just..... I was stopped." Hunk let out a breath and paused for a second, just enough for Lance to ask

"What stopped you?" 

Hunk laughed a little "Well, I was already bleeding from my chest and stomach when I stopped. I looked into the mirror in my room and cried more and more. I wanted it over and done with, I actually wished for death. But then..... I thought about my future husband or wife. I thought about them and I calmed down a little. I thought that all this pain I was going through had to be necessary for me and them to be able to be together. I thought that they had to be going through some tuff crap too in order to deal with the current me. But at eight years old, that only worked for that one time." Hunk let out a wheeze "I was almost successful once....in taking my life. I think it was about a year before you came to the Garrison, my overseers decided to take me with them on a mission across town. I was with  three of the best pilots in the Garrison, at the time, and we were going on an 'adventure'. It was all fine, I felt fine. Then the main pilot, a woman, asked me if I wanted to steer. If I wanted to take the wheel. I happily said yes and got behind the wheel, sitting in her lap. I was as happy as could be. But then, I realized the power I had. The power and force that the vehicle had. I forced us to crash and injured the three not that badly....but I wasn't buckled and almost flew face first into the windshield...... if I had jerked forward even a centimeter closer I would've died..... that's why I hated flying so much...and why it still makes me so nauseous.... it brought me back to that feeling...

"I sustained many injuries, and after that, I was under intense watch and care of individuals. Then you came to school. The principal thought it would be good for me to actually make a friend so they told me to watch over you. I thought the worst--and from what they told me about you I should've. But you became the best thing to happen in my life. Yet.... I still felt disgusting. I hated my body, I hated myself, I hated everything. I didn't want you to see me how I see myself so I hid behind someone that I knew that I could be. Over the years that we were glued to each other I actually became that person. I had a hope. I had a life that was worth living...... but every time I got in trouble (every time we got in trouble) they would remind me of my past, remind me of my mistakes and my misfortunes. They reminded me of who I am and who my family was; essentially they were telling me who they predicted I would become." Hunk wiped away the tears with the sleeve clinging to the inside of his elbow. He looked to Lance who was shocked, sobbing, and seemingly miserable "Lance....I never wanted you to know, I still..... I don't want you to think differ--" before he could finish his sentence Lance embraced him. Holding Hunk tightly as if trying to squeeze the sadness out of Hunk.

"I love you so much, Hunk." Lance said in Hunk's ear "I love you so much that I made a nickname for you for the sole reason that every time someone called you your given name you looked hurt, you looked in pain, you looked empty." Lance buried his eyes in Hunk's shoulder "You should be given the universe for the insane crap that you've had to go through. I know it was hard for you to tell me but I'm happy I know. I'm sorry I had to go as far as threaten our relationship to get you to tell me." 

"I knew that it was a ploy, what do you take me for?" Hunk smiled slightly

"Ya....I was--and am still a little--pissed." Lance separated a little and put his face right in front of Hunks

"So now what?" Hunk asked as he looked at Lance's puffed and reddened face

"I think we both deserve some time to ourselves." Lance smiled "How about we go on a date?" 

"A date? You seriously want to go on a date after that emotional debacle?" 

"Ya! Come on Hunk!! We can go into the simulation room and go on a picnic anywhere in the universe!" 

"You know what," Hunk said cupping Lance's face and bringing their noses together for an Eskimo kiss, "I think after my emotional breakdown that I just had, I realized that as long as I'm with you I'll be okay with anything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was good!! I am loving this book so much and I think I'm becoming a little too attached to them! Anyway, leave a comment if you'd like and you guys will see an update Friday! Thanks so much for reading!


	17. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years passed. Precious years that they've been joined together. They feel nothing but joy in the other presence. So what is this feeling that Lance holds? Will he tell Hunk or let it boil inside?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A warning this chapter has suggestive themes in it and some more adult language than I've been using.

**\--7 years later--**

"Lance look out!!" Hunk thrusted his Lion towards Lance and yanked Lance out of the way of a large ion cannon blast.

The five were in the heat of battle in front of a planet called Guandulaious, a planet that was inhabited by peaceful people who were going to be dragged into this war whether they wanted it or not. The Galra had already destroyed the planet, so now was trying to rid the universe of this armada before they could go destroy any more planets. 

"Thank's, babe!" Lance said, "You've saved my butt a lot today!" 

"You're head seems to be in the clouds today." Hunk said as he maneuvered Yellow in front of Lance looking towards him

"Guys, talk about that later!" Keith called, "We have to beat them!" 

"Fine, we'll talk about this later." Hunk grunted after he said that to Lance, his lion being hit by minor missiles "Be safe," Hunk called as he pulled his Lion 180 degrees in the opposite direction "I love you!" Hunk then charged in, pulling the thrusters inside of Yellow and stepping on the pedals haphazardly. 

"Knock 'em dead, babe!" Lance called as he too went to go help the team battle it out against the Galra armada that displayed themselves so neatly in front of them as if they were a thanksgiving feast waiting to be ripped into or a plethora of Christmas presents waiting to be blown open. Either way, the five obliged the want of the Galra to be blown to smithereens. It took hours of fighting, and a few of those hours they thought they were going to lose and have to tell Allura that she needed to find five other Paladins. It seemed that the drones just kept coming and coming, but eventually the numbers were obviously dwindling and that's when hope arose in the team, that's when the true battle began. After each and every drone was out of commission, after each and ever Galra soldier either captured or out of their sights they returned to the Castle of Lions.

Shiro and Keith escorted about six Galra soldiers to Allura to be questioned, while Pidge talked to her new friend RJ (Rover Junior) as she began to amplify the Green lion even more so than she already was. Lance tried to run from Hunk, seeming to not want to bring up the subject at hand, but Hunk's thick hands caught Lance's toned Biceps before he could escape. 

"Are you going to talk, or run away?" Hunk asked concerned as he let go of Lance's arm. Lance turned around, his face downcast as he twiddled his thumbs with shaking hands. 

"I....can we talk in private?" Lance whispered as he looked over to Pidge who had noticeably begun to talk loudly so that she couldn't hear them. 

"Of course." Hunk said as he began to guide Lance towards their bedroom, he wasn't exactly dragging Lance, but his body was at an angle so that he could sort of herd Lance. 

"Can... we not go to the bedroom?" Lance asked, knowing where they were headed the second they turned right instead of heading to the training deck (left).

"Is _that_ what this is about?" Hunk asked stopping in his tracks as he felt his heart begin to speed up 

"Please don't be mad if it is...." Lance let out a worried sigh as he tried to avoid Hunk's gaze. 

"Lance--" 

"I just...I love you so much, Hunk, and I want to show you just how much I love you." 

"I'm not ready, Lance...." Hunk said letting out a sigh and looking to his man

"I know.... the way you look when we jerk each other off is almost too painful to look at." Lance said solemnly, he pulled Hunk down for a light yet long kiss "I love you, and I still stand on waiting until you're ready. I just want you to know that I'm ready when you are." Lance let out a wheeze as if that was half of the truth as if he couldn't wait. Hunk felt a red flag go up in the back of his mind as he thought that he should just get sex done and over with. He thought that he should just give Lance what he wanted, that he should just do it. But Hunk respected Lance more than that. He respected himself more than that. He would wait until the moment was right to go to Lance, wait until his mind was filled with nothing more that Lance and the noises that he would make writhing under Hunk, wait until that fateful day when they could be joined together and Hunk doing nothing more than enjoying the moment for what it was. Hunk respected Lance too much to rush into having sex to just have sex. He wanted Lance to enjoy it too and not feel rushed. He cared too much for Lance to do so. 

"I love you too, Lance..." Hunk replied, his heart feeling slightly pressured but his mind knowing that he should wait for the sake of his whole mentality. Doing it for the first time between partners is the most sacred thing, it's not something to just be thrown together and not something that should determine a relationship. 

Even though they both have seen each other naked, taking showers and baths together, changing in front of each other, and jerking each other off when they're pent up, Hunk wanted to leave sex (the actual act of prepping Lance and treating him like the prince whom Hunk loves more than Earth) for when he knew he was ready. 

"Thank you," Lance said smiling

"For?" Hunk questioned as the two then began to walk towards the food hall

"Hearing me out." 

"Lance, I love you so much. I understand your frustration because I'm frustrated too, but I don't want to rush into having sex and us both realize that it was too early to do it." Hunk intertwined their hands together as they made it to the mess hall. The two grabbed their green goo meals and sat across from each other as they ate. 

"I'm sorry I brought it up," Lance said as if his guilt were just settling in.

"Lance, I'm happy you brought it up, okay?" Hunk replied

"Really? I guess.....but I still feel bad because I'm like the worst boyfriend for bringing it up."

"You aren't the worst, Lance, okay? You're actually the best. You reminded me that we are more than we used to be, Lance. We've grown from the couple we were seven years ago." Hunk smiled a little as he looked to Lance and pointed a spoon towards him as if to threaten him

"Oh man, seven years.... and then some! Because of the Garrison." Lance commented in a nostalgic voice "I can't believe it." 

"I know." Hunk then laughed at a memory "Do you remember what happened when we reached two years?" 

"Ya, Pidge told us to get hitched," They laughed together at that comment. Lance looked over to Hunk, "I remember when we had the scare three years ago...." Hunk put his fork down

"I know. That was very.....unsettling for all of us. Shiro knew that it was dangerous, he knew that there was more than a 50% chance that he would die...."

"That's why that idiot said that line to Keith. He thought he wouldn't make it out and, therefore, needed to know that someone would lead Voltron. He even ruined his relationship with Allura because of that move." 

"Well they are still together, but they aren't the same...." Hunk placed his spoon down "Our relationship is different too, you know?" 

"What do you mean by that?" Lance furrowed his brows

"We are more open with each other, do you think that 6 years ago-- hell! Even last year-- you would've told me that you were ready to have sex whenever I was." When those words came out of Hunk's mouth Pidge walked in and turned right around and left. Hunk placed his hand over his forehead in embarrassment and tried to continue but couldn't find any other words than curses. 

"I never thought about that," Lance said with a smile "But we did grow stronger after you told me about your past, I think that was the key thing that made our relationship stronger." 

"Ya....Do you remember the date we had after that?" Hunk laughed 

"I tried so hard to impress you!" Lance blushed as he tried to defend himself "How was I supposed to know that you were going to be allergic to the food that Coran helped me make?!" 

"That was one of the best dates of my life!" Hunk slapped his thighs as he remembered. 

Lance had taken him to the simulation room, where there was a romantic sunset that cascaded colors beyond the human imagination across the sky in a never-ending dance that took their breath away. Lance stood with a meal on a two person table waiting for Hunk to enter. They both were in their casual wear and felt funny looking like so. Lance had prepared the meal with the assistance of Coran. The night was going great and the simulation room's lighting danced off their skin so beautifully. Hunk decided to stand and offer his hand to Lance. To which Lance obliged with a grin knowing where this was going. And so, like two fools in love, they danced across the ground, the simulation flowers swaying to their steps and the calm noises of their surrounding almost making them feel as though this were a dream. It soon turned into a nightmare when Hunk fell to the ground seeming to be choking. Lance called for Coran fast. That was when they found out Hunk was allergic to Juniper berries (a delicacy all around the universe). 

"Hunk, Coran said you almost died!" 

"Small details Lance, don't sweat. It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me~." 

As the two then began to eat again the alarms of the castle went off and Allura's voice echoed "Paladin's there is a distress beacon close, please go to your lions!" 

"Well this was a fun break~," Lance said grabbing his plate and Hunks, tossing them in the self-cleaning sink. The two grabbed each other's hand and walked to their lions. 

 

They might be defenders of the universe, but first and foremost, they are each other's one and only. If any alien stood in the way of that, even if that alien was Zarkon himself and (for some reason) he was hell bent on breaking them up, they would defend their relationship to the bitter end. There was no other man for the other. There was no other person that they would want to be with. There was something about the raw love that they had for each other than never waivered each and every morning. There was something so special about them being able to pour their hearts out to one another and not feel ashamed to a point that they broke up, but rather they worked through it. There was something extremely therapeutic in the relationship that the two had, they could go to the other with ANY issue, lay their heart out as they were in the embrace of the other, and not have to expect an answer. Just the comfort of their grasp and attention was more than enough to make them better. They felt so comfortable in each other's grasp, they felt so content in the others kisses and longing gazes, they felt so cherished in the others presence, (and for a lack of a better word) they felt enhanced. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter. I hope you guys liked this book and I hope to see your lovely comments on my books to come. If you want to request a special Hance (or a different Ship) book you can shoot me a message on Tumblr @enhance-ao3. Thank you all for reading!
> 
> If you guys haven't checked it out I made a special for Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy that and this chapter.


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